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..^WE•u^': 


NORTHWARD 

OVER  THE  "GREAT  ICE" 

A  Narraiive  of  Life  and  Work  along  the 

Shores  and  upon  the  Interior  Ice-Cap 

of  Northern  Greenland  in  the  Years 

1886  and  i8gi-i8g'j 


WITH  A   DESCRIPTION   OF  THE   LITTLE  TRIBE   OF  SMITH-SOUND 

ESKIMOS,  THE  MOST  NORTHERLY  HUMAN  BEINGS  IN  THE 

WORLD,  AND  AN  ACCOUNT  OF  THE  DISCOVERY  AND 

BRINGING   HOME  OF  THE   "SAVIKSUE,"   OR 

GREAT  CAPE-YORK  METEORITES 


BY 


ROBERT  E.  PEARY 

CIVIL    ENGINEER,  U.S.N. 

MEMBER   OF  THE   AMERICAN  SOCIETV   OF   CIVIL   ENGINEERS 
ME.MBER  OK  THE  AMERICAN  GEOGRAIHICAL  SOCIETV 


WITH  MAPS,   DIAGRAMS,   AND  ABOUT  EIGHT   HUNDRED 

ILLUSTRATIONS 

In  Two  Volumes 

VOL.    I. 


NEW  YORK 

FREDERICK  A.  STOKES  COMPANY 

MCMXIV 


9732^ 


Copyright,  i8g8, 

By  FREDERICK  A.  STOKES  COMPANY. 

All  rights  reserved. 


TO   THE   TWO   WHO   LINK    ME   WITH 
THE   PAST   AND    FUTURE 

MY   MOTHER  AND    MY  DAUGHTER 

THIS   BOOK  IS   DEDICATED 


t^ 


CONTENTS  OF  VOL.  I. 


^ 

N 


XL 


i 


PREFACE 

INTRODUCTION 


PAGE 

XXV 


xxvn 


PART  I. 


RECONNAISSANCE   OF   THE    GREENLAND    INLAND    ICE, 

1886 

OBJECTS  AND  RESULTS  OF  1886  RECONNAISSANCE. 


PART  II. 

NORTH-GREENLAND    EXPEDITION   OF    189I-1892. 

CHAPTER 

I. — BrO'iklyn  to  McCormick  Bay 
n— Preparing  our  North-Greenland  Home 
III.— Boat  Voyage  to  the  Islands 
IV. — Boat  and  Sledge  Trips 
V. — Through  the  Great  Night 
VI._Through  the  Great    Night  {Continued) 
VII. — Imprisoned  on  the  Ice-Cap  ... 
VIII. — Preparing  for  the  Ice-Cap  Campaign 
IX. — Around  Inglefield  Gulf  by  Sledge. 
X.— Equipment,    Routine,    and    Beginning    of 
White  March 


39 


41 
7» 
95 

125 
157 
179 

197 
219 

245 
e 
•  275 


xvi  Contents  of  Vol.  I 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

XI. — Over  the  "Great  Ice"  to  the  Northern  End 

OF  Greenland    . 299 


XII. — Northernmost  Greenland  . 
XIII. — Eight  Thousand  Feet  above  the  Sea 
XIV. — Boat  Voyage  into  Inglefield  Gulf  . 


XV. — Search  for  Verhoeff,  and  Homeward  Voyage  409 

XVI. — Meteorological  Notes — VERHOtFF       .         .         .  427 

OBJECTS  AND  RESULTS  OF  189I-1892  EXPEDITION  .  438 

APPENDIX  I. — AN  ARCTIC  OASIS 441 

APPENDIX  II. — THE  SMITH-SOUND  ESKIMOS,  WITH  COM- 
PLETE CENSUS  OF  THE  TRIBE 477 

INDEX  OF  VOL.  I •  •    5>S 


327 

355 

383 


ILLUSTRATIONS,  MAPS,  AND  DIAGRAMS 
IN  VOL.  I. 


PAGE 

ROBERT  E.   PEARY Frontispiece 

THE  ARCTIC  PACK xxviii 

HEADPIECE  TO  INTRODUCTION xxix 

ANGELO  HEILPRIN xxxviii 

ISAAC  J.   WISIAR xl 

HENRY  G    BRYANT xliv 

MORRIS  K.  JESUP xlvi 

CHAS.   P.   DALY xlviii 

EMIL  DIEBITSCH I 

CHAS.   A.   MOORE liv 

TAILPIECE Ixxx 

ON  THE  "GREAT  ICE" 2 

HEADPIECE 3 

INSPECTOR  NEILS  ANDERSEN 4 

FREDERICK 6 

BLAESE  DALE  CATARACT      8 

DANISH  ESKIMO  WOMAN g 

GREENLAND  SMALL  BOY 11 

SOUTH  COAST  OF  DISCO  ISLAND,  EAST  OF  GODHAVN      .  12 

BIVOUAC  ON  THE  ICE-CAP 13 

COASTING 15 

ICE-CAP  EQUIPMENT faces  16 

PROFILE    OF    INLAND    ICE,    FROM    HEAD    OF    PAKITSOK 

FJORD,  EASTWARD 19 

LARGE   PURPLE   BLOSSOMS 21 

ESKIMO  KAYAKERS  EFFECTING  A  LANDING         ...  22 

ESKIMO  K.WAKERS  TRAVELLING  OVERLAND      ...  23 
PANORAMA  OF    THE    INLAND    ICE,   TOSSUKATEK    FJORD 

AND  GLACIER,  AND  DISCO  BAY,  GREENLAND       .  25 

HARBOUR  OF  ATANEKERDI.UK 26 

ATANEKERDLUK  FOSSIL-BEDS 27 

CLIFF  VIEW  AT  ATANEKERDLUK 29 

THE  GORGE  AT  ATANEKERDLUK 31 

SCOTCH   WHALER  OFF    IIIE  WEST  COA.ST       ....  33 

CAPTAIN  ARTHUR  JACKMAN  OF  THE  "  EAGLE"         .         .  34 

CUMBERLAND  SOUND  NATIVES 35 

ROUTE  OF  SUMMER  VOYAGE,  18S6 37 

GREENLAND  ROUTE  MAP 40 

PORTRAITS  OF  GIBSON,  VERHOEFF,  DR.  COOK,  ASTRUP, 

AND   HENSON 42 

VOL.  I.  xvii 


xviii  Illustrations 

PAGE 

HEADPIECE 43 

CAP  IAIN  RICHARD  PIKE  OF  THE  "  KITE"  ....  44 
CHIEF    ENGINEER   JARDINE,    2D   ENGINEER    McKINLEY, 

AND  "BO'SUN"  DUNPHY 46 

TIM 47 

COD-FISHING  IN  STRAIT  OF  BELLE  ISLE       ....  49 

DECK  SCENE  AFTER  HEAVY  WEATHER  ....  51 
MRS.  PEARY  AND  GROUP  OF  DANISH  ESKIMO  WOMEN  AT 

GODHAVN 52 

CLIMBING  THE  GODHAVN  CLIFFS 54 

THE   PARTY  AT   THE  CAIRN 55 

A  CRUISER  OF  THE  ARCTIC  WHITE  SQUADRON          .         .  57 

SANDERSON'S  HOPE 58 

ROUTE  OF  NORTH-GREENLAND  EXPEDITION,  1891-2,  TO 

AND  FROM  Mccormick  bay 59 

UPERNAVIK 61 

THE  PARTY  AT  THE  DUCK  ISLANDS 62 

BESET  IN  THE  MELVILLE-BAY  PACK 64 

MELVILLE  BAY,  JULY  4,   1891 66 

POLAR  BEAR 67 

PANORAMA  OF   COA.ST    FROM    CAPE   YORK    TO    CONICAL 

ROCK.     BY  EIVIND  ASTRUP 69 

IKWAH  AND  WALRUS 72 

HEADPIECE 73 

SITE  OF  RED  CLIFF    HOUSE 74 

THE  RED  CLIFFS 75 

RED  CLIFF  HOUSE 76 

LOW  TIDE 77 

"  THE  D.\YS  WERE  VERY  LONG  " ■79 

HENSON  WITH   R.A.VEN  AND  BLUE  FOX           ....  80 

VICTIM  AND  VICTORS 81 

WEIGHING  UP  A  WALRUS 83 

UNTOLD  WEALTH 85 

CRIPPLE  BE.^CH 86 

ARCTIC  HOUSE-BUILDING 87 

REST  AFTER  LABOUR 89 

HARPOON  PRACTICE  UNDER  DIFFICULTIES          ...  91 

ANNADOR 92 

GREENLAND   FALCON 94 

THE  "FAITH" 96 

HEADPIECE 97 

HAKLUYT   ISLAND,  WITH    NORTHUMBERLAND    IN    THE 

DISTANCE 99 

WALRUS  IN  MURCHISON  SOUND loi 

THE  FIRST  NATIVE 102 

ESKIMO  FAMILY  AND  TENT,  NORTHUMBERLAND  ISLAND  103 
ESKIMO     IGLOO,    NORTHUMBERLAND     ISLAND,    FRONT 

VIEW 105 

ESKIMO  IGLOO,  NORTHUMBERLAND  ISLAND,  REAR  VIEW  106 
PLAN     AND    SECTION    OF     NORTHUMBERLAND    ISLAND 

IGLOOS loS 

ESKIMOS  ON  NORTHUMBERLAND  ISLAND     .         .         .         .no 

NATIVES  AND  FOREIGNERS 112 


Illustrations  xix 


ESKIMO  VILLAGE  OF  KEATE,  NORTHUMBERLAND  ISLAND  113 
TENT  VILLAGE,   NORTHUMBERLAND  ISLAND       .         .         .116 

JOSEPHINE  GLACIER,   NORTHUMBERLAND  ISLAND    .         .  118 

WESTERN  GLACIER,   NORTHUMBERLAND  ISLAND       .         .  119 
WITH  THE  WALRUS  AT  CAPE  CLEVELAND    .         .         .         .121 

IKWAH  CUTTING  UP  THE  WALRUS 123 

WANING  OF  THE  SUMMER   DAY 126 

HEADPIECE 127 

"THE  EAST  WIND  WAS  WHISTLING  OUT  OF  THE  BAY".  12S 

F(ETAL  GLACIERS 130 

PANORAMA  OF  McCORMICK  BAY 131 

FIRST  HANGING  GLACIER 132 

PACKING  SUPPLIES  TO  THE  ICE-CAP 134 

DASHING  UPON  THE  WALRUS 135 

MRS.   PEARY 137 

WALRUS 139 

WALRUS  HEAD 140 

AMPHITHEATRE  BERG 143 

THE  BOAT  CAMP— EXTERIOR 145 

THE   BOAT  CAMP— INTERIOR 146 

GLACIER  OF  THE  SCARLET   HEART 148 

THE   FIVE-GLACIER-VALLEY  PARTY  STARTING     .                   .  149 

THE  FIVE-GLACIER-VALLEY  PARTY  RETURNING  OCT.  18TH  151 

NOWDINGYAH 152 

"HORACE  GREELEY"  AND  "  SAIREY  GAMP"                             -  I54 

AHNGODOBLAHO 158 

HEADPIECE 159 

RED  CLIFF  IN  THE  WINTER  NIGHT 160 

IKWAH'S  MANSION 161 

MEGIPSU 163 

KYOAHPADU 165 

THE  TIDE  GAUGE 166 

VERHOEFF  READING  TIDE  GAUGE 167 

"  RED  CLIFF  WAS  SINKING  INTO  A  HUGE  DRIFT"    .         .  169 

THE  SMILER 170 

AHNINGAHNAH 171 

TOOKUMINGWAH 171 

"SAIREY  GAMP" I73 

ADULT  MAN I74 

ADULT   WOMAN 174 

BOY 175 

GIRL 176 

CHILD 176 

TAILPIECE 177 

ANNAHWEE 180 

HEADPIECE 181 

CHRISTMAS  MENUS 182 

KUDLAH  (MISFORTUNE) 184 

MYAH  (THE  WHITE  MAN) 185 

THE  VILLAIN 185 

INALOO 186 

OOTUNIAH 1S7 

THE  LIBRARY 188 


XX  Illustrations 

PAGE 

THE  WRITING-DESK 190 

THE  BED igi 

THE  WASHSTAND 193 

NIPSANGWAH 194 

TAHWANA 195 

TAILPIECE 196 

KOMONAHPIK 198 

HEADPIECE 199 

THE  PATH  TO  THE  ICE-CAP 200 

DIGGING  OUT 202 

SUNRISE  CAMP 203 

MOONLIGHT  ON  THE  ICE-CAP 205 

SUNRISE  ON  THE  '■  GREAT  ICE" 206 

THE  DENUDED  CLIFFS 208 

"EVERY  BOULDER  CASED   IN   ICE" 210 

JOSEPHINE  HEADLAND  SWIMMING  IN  PURPLE  LIGHT     .  211 
RED  CLIFF  HOUSE  AFTER  THE  STORM           .         .         .         .213 

AMONG  THE    RUINS 215 

EFFECTING  REPAIRS 217 

TAILPIECE 218 

WOMAN  AND  CHILD 220 

HEADPIECE 221 

TACK 222 

SHOEING  A  SLEDGE  WITH  ICE    .                  223 

SHOEING  A  SLEDGE  WITH   ICE 224 

MATT   AND  ANNOWKAH    RETURNING  FROM   THE   DEER 

HUNT 227 

SECTION  OF  ICE-SHOE 228 

ESKIMO  BITCH  AND  PUPPIES 229 

ICE-CAP  BEYOND  FOUR-MILE  VALLEY 230 

KOKO 231 

THE  WIDOW  NUIKINGWAH 232 

THE  WIDOWS  MITE 234 

EASTERN  END  OF  HERBERT  ISLAND 235 

THE  FIRST   LOAD  FOR  THE  ICE-CAP 236 

TALAKOTEAH  AND   HIS  FAMILY 237 

FRANK.   THE  RETURNING  PRODIGAL 239 

MY  ESKIMO  MAIL-CARRIER 240 

SOME  OF  MY    DOGS 241 

ESKIMO  NAMES  OF  PARHELIA 243 

ESKIMO  SLEDGE-TRAVELLER  AND   DOGS        .         .         .         .246 

HEADPIECE 247 

PANIKPA  AND  HIS  FAMILY 248 

AT  THE  SNOW  VILLAGE        .......  249 

MAP  OF  SLEDGE  JOURNEY,  APRIL  iS-24,  1892  .         .         .250 

INHABITANTS  OF  THE  SNOW  VILLAGE 2';2 

NETIULUMI 253 

KEATE    PEOPLE 255 

THE  POPULATION  OF  NETIULUMI 256 

MERKTOSHAR 257 

PANIKPA'S  IGLOO 259 

KIRSIRVIARSU 260 

MY  SLEEPING   TEAM 261 


Illustrations  xxi 


PAGE 

UON  ISLANDS  263 

ROCK    STRATIFICATION 264 

FACE  OF  HEILPRIN  GLACIER 265 

TAHWANA  AND  HIS  FAMILY 267 

FACE  OF   HURLBUT  GLACIER 268 

GORGE  OF    HURLBUT    GLACIER 270 

BACK   TO   RED  CLIFF 272 

TAILPIECE 273 

DOGS 276 

HEADPIECE 277 

THE  START   FROM   RED  CLIFF 278 

THE  CAMP  ON  THE   BLUFFS 27g 

PACKING 281 

UP  THE   RAVINE 282 

FIRST  IGLOO  ON  THE  ICE-CAP 283 

THE  CARAVAN    IN  LINE 285 

A   HALT  FOR  LUNCH 286 

SUPPER  IN  CAMP 288 

GIBSON,  TEAM  AND  SLEDGE 289 

DR.  COOK.  TEAM  AND  SLEDGE 291 

ASTRUP,  TEAM  AND  SLEDGE 292 

SNOW  IGLOO  AT  HUMBOLDT  GLACIER 293 

ON  THE  MARCH 294 

GIBSON  AND  DR.  COOK  STARTING  BACK         .         .         .         .296 

TAILPIECE 297 

THE  HOUR  BEFORE  SUPPER 300 

HEADPIECE 301 

WITH  THE  GUIDON 302 

ASTRUP  AND  MY  DOGS 304 

LIKE  A  GREAT  BED  OF  WHITE  LAVA 305 

CREVASSE  OF  THE  "GREAT  ICE" 307 

ICE-MOUND,  PETERMANN  BASIN 30S 

A  TYPICAL  CAMP 309 

NALEGAKSOAH 311 

A  BREAK-DOWN 313 

HARD  TIMES 314 

IN  THE  DEEP-SNOW  REGION 315 

BETTER  GOING 317 

SETTING  THE  COURSE 318 

THE    NORTHERN    LAND 319 

THE  NORTHERN  MORAINE 321 

MUSK-OX  RENDEZVOUS 322 

MY  PADDED   KAMIKS 324 

TAILPIECE 325 

NAVY  CLIFF 328 

HEADPIECE 329 

DOWN  OVER  THE  ROCKS 330 

EXHAUSTED  WITH   THE  HEAT 331 

SOURCE  OF  THE  ACADEMY  GLACIER 333 

NUNATAKS  OF    THE  ACADEMY  GLACIER         .         .         .         .334 

WAVE-MARKED   SANDSTONE 335 

MY  FIRST  MUSK-OXEN 337 

MUSK-OX  SHEDDING  WINTER  COAT 339 


xxii  Illustrations 

PAGE 

ROYAL  BANQUET  OF   MY  DOGS  .         .         .         .         .         .         .341 

CAMP   MUSK-OX 343 

VIEW   FROM   NAVY  CLIFF 344 

ACADEMY  GLACIER  AND  INDEPENDENCE  BAY  .  .  .346 
THE  STARS  AND  STRIPES  AT  NAVY  CLIFF  .  .  ,  .348 
PANORAMA  NORTH-NORTHWEST  FROM  NAVY  CLIFF,     faces     348 

BESIDE  A  BABBLING  BROOK 351 

MAP  OF  INDEPENDENCE  BAY 353 

TAILPIECE 354 

SAILING  ON  THE  "GREAT   ICE" 356 

HEADPIECE 357 

PACKING  FOR  THE  RETURN 358 

STORM  CAMP 359 

PANIKPA 361 

THE  KITCHEN 363 

POLLUX 365 

SAILING 367 

FORE-AND-AFTER'S 368 

SOLITUDE 369 

CROSSING  PRUDHOE  LAND 371 

A  HEAD-WIND 372 

ON  THE  HOME  STRETCH 373 

ON  THE  SUMMIT  OF  DOME  MOUNTAIN  .         .         .         .375 

PROF.   HEILPRIN  AND  PARTY 377 

A  BEACON 378 

DOWN  THE  LAST  SLOPE 380 

THE  "  KITE"  FLOATING  SNUGLY  AT  ANCHOR    .         .         .381 

TAILPIECE 382 

FACE  OF  BOWDOIN  CILACIER 384 

HEADPIECE 3S5 

MAP  OF  BOAT  VOYAGE  INGLEFIELD  GULF    .         .         .         .386 

"WE   MET  MY  BOYS" 387 

CAPE  CLEVELAND 388 

FAN  GLACIER 389 

KARNAH  GLACIER 389 

KARNAH 390 

A  TITAN  WATCH  TOWER 391 

SOUTH  GLACIER 392 

WEST  OR  GNOME  GLACIER 393 

VIEW  AT   HEAD  OF  BOWDOIN  BAY 394 

EAST  GLACIER 395 

CASTLE  CLIFFS 395 

FACE  OF  HUBBARD  GLACIER 396 

MOUNT  ADAMS 397 

MOUNT  PUTNAM 398 

THE  BRONZE  SPHINX 399 

HART  OR   LIZARD  GLACIER 400 

ICE-WAVES  OF  THE   MELVILLE  GLACIER         .         .         .         .401 

TRACY  GLACIER 402 

ORIENT  CLIFFS  OF  JOSEPHINE-PEARY  ISLAND  .  .  .403 
ERRATICS  ON  SUMMIT  OF  JOSEPHINE-PEARY  ISLAND  .  404 
MRS.  PEARY  AND  HER  KAHLILLOWAH  .  .  .  .405 
LOOKING  OUT  OF  ACADEMY  BAY 406 


Illustrations  xxiii 

PAGE 

THE  ICEBERG  BREAKWATER 407 

LEIDY  GLACIER 408 

ICEBERG  IN  WAIGATT 410 

HEADPIECE 411 

'■MANY  WERE  THE  INTERESTING  GROUPS"         .         .         .412 

MRS.  PEARY  DISTRIBUTING  HOUSEHOLD  UTENSILS          .  413 

PRICELESS  TREASURES    FROM    PHILADELPHIA  FRIENDS  414 
FAREWELL  TO  OUR  GREENLAND   HOME         .         .         .         .415 

THE  GIANT  OF  ATANEKERDLUK 416 

VERDANT   RAVINE  AT  ATANEKERDLUK  .         .         .         .41? 

THE  PROFESSOR 418 

GODHAAB 4ig 

CHAPEL  AT  GODHAAB 420 

MORAVIAN  MISSION 421 

SOMERSAULT  IN   KAYAK 421 

lUMPING  ONE  KAYAK  OVER  ANOTHER  .  .         .422 

"THE  HARBOUR  PICTURESQUE  IN  NIGHT  SHADOWS           .  423 

FIRE-SWEPT   ST.  JOHN'S 424 

SOUTHWARD  WITH  BELLYING  SAILS      .•         ...  425 
"OUR  FRIENDS  COMING  TO  MEET  US"           .         .         .         .426 

VERHOEFF  AND  TIDE  GAUGE 428 

HEADPIECE 429 

TAILPIECE 437 

ECLIPSE  OF  MIDNIGHT  SUN 442 

HEADPIECE 443 

CAPE  YORK 444 

THE  CRIMSON  CLIFFS 445 

CONICAL  ROCK 445 

AKPANI  CLIFFS 446 

DALRYMPLE  ROCK 447 

SAUNDERS  ISLAND 448 

OOMUNUI 449 

HAKLUYT  ISLAND 450 

CHANNEL  BETWEEN  NORTHUMBERLAND  AND  HAKLUYT 

ISLANDS 451 

HEADLANDS  OF  NORTHUMBERLAND  ISLAND       .         .         .452 

FAST  IN  THE  ICE 453 

ROOKERY  OF  LITTLE  AUKS 454 

ICE-CAP  AND  GLACIERS  OF  HERBERT  ISLAND     .         .         .455 

SCULPTURED  CLIFFS  OF   KARNAH 456 

CASTLE  CLIFFS 457 

SOUTH  GLACIER 458 

MT.   BARTLETT 459 

SENTINEL  NUNATAK 460 

VALLEY  SCENE,  HEAD  OF  BOWDOIN  BAY        .         .         .         .461 

ARCTIC  FLOWERS 462 

ARCTIC   FLOWERS 4^3 

KAHKOKTAH  GLACIER 464 

GLACIER  MARGIN 465 

TYPICAL  STRATIFICATION  AND  DIP 466 

CAPE  ALEXANDER 4^7 

JUNE  IN  BOWDOIN  BAY 468 

COAST  WEST  OF  HUBBARD  GLACIER 469 


xxiv  Illustrations 

PAGE 

CHARACTERISTIC  GLACIER  SNOUT 470 

CLIFFS  OF  KANGERDLOOKSOAH 471 

NUNATAKS 472 

LITTLETON  ISLAND  FROM  SITE  OF  POLARIS  HOUSE  .         .  473 

NORTH  SHORE,  LITTLETON  AND  McGARY  ISLANDS    .         .  474 

CAIRN   POINT 475 

A   SMITH-SOUND   ESKIMO 478 

HEADPIECE 47g 

ATUPIK 480 

AHSAYOO 481 

MALE  ETHNOLOGICAL   SERIES 482 

WIFE   OF  SORER 483 

EATING    RAW   WALRUS   MEAT               484 

TUNGWINGWAH   AND   HER    BABY 485 

FEMALE   ETHNOLOGICAL  SERIES 486 

"MISS  BILL" 487 

FIGURE   OF   EIGHT-YEAR-OLD  GIRL 488 

NUPSAH 489 

NUPSAH 490 

GROUP  OF  ESKIMO  WOMEN 491 

WRESTLING 492 

BOXING • 493 

ARM  PULL 494 

COSTUME  OF  AN  ESKIMO  WOMAN 495 

WRIST   PULL 496 

TUG   OF   WAR 497 

ESKIMOS  IN   THEIR   KAYAKS 498 

POOADLOONAH 499 

MOTHER  OF  SEALS 500 

BRAIDING   A   BOWSTRING 501 

STRETCHING  A  SEALSKIN  TO  DRY 502 

MAKING  A   HARPOON   LINE 503 

STRETCHING   A    HARPOON   LINE 504 

GRAVE   OF   A   HUNTER 505 

FACE  CARVED  FROM  VERTEBRA  OF  NARWHAL  .         .         .506 

KOODLOOKTOO 507 


PREFACE. 

THIS  narrative  has  been  written  to  supply  a  com- 
plete authentic  record  of  my  Arctic  work, — a 
record  which  I  owed  it  to  my  family,  my  friends, 
and  myself  to  put  in  permanent  form.  It  is  my  first 
and  only  book,  and  it  covers  all  my  Arctic  work. 

It  contains  the  cream  of  my  Arctic  material,  liter- 
ary and  pictorial.  The  reader  will  find  no  padding. 
My  constant  aim  has  been  condensation.  The  reader 
will  find  neither  rcsiiiiics  of  previous  work,  nor  con- 
stant reference  to  other  explorers.  This  is  not  be- 
cause I  do  not  appreciate  their  magnificent  achieve- 
ments, and  have  not  profited  by  the  experience  of 
Kane,  Hayes,  Hall,  Greely,  Melville,  and  the  long 
list  of  my  gallant  countrymen,  as  well  as  those  of  other 
countries,  my  predecessors,  but  because  I  have  no 
room  or  right  to  rehash  their  experiences  and  results. 
The  interested  reader  can  go  to  their  original  narra- 
tives, and  there  learn,  in  their  own  words,  as  much  or 
as  little  of  their  work  as  he  pleases.  As  to  constant 
comparisons  with  the  work  of  others,  the  cursory 
reader  will  not  care  for  these.  The  specialist  can 
make  them  himself. 

The  constant  incentive  in  my  work  has  been  an 
ineradicable  feeling  that  I  saw  something  before  me 
worthy  and  possible  of  accomplishment,  and  that  I 
could  never  have  content  until  it  was  done,  or  that  I 
had  satisfied  myself  that  I  was  not  the  one  to  do  it. 


XXVI 


Preface 


"  While  it  is  hoped  the  narrative  itself  will  not  be 
lacking  in  attractiveness,  yet  I  feel,  outside  of  this, 
that  it  and  the  accurate  and  profuse  illustrations,  most 
of  which  are  not  only  "  pictures,"  but  typical  studies  of 
the  features  and  objects  which  they  represent,  will 
prove  of  pronounced  educational  value  in  showing 
what  the  Arctic  regions,  with  their  inhabitants  and 
the  phases  of  life  there,  are  really  like. 

While  I  have  endeavoured  in  these  pages  to  care- 
fully sum  up  the  general  aspects  and  results  of  my 
work,  I  desire  it  to  be  clearly  understood  that  I  have 
made  no  attempt  to  have  the  data  I  accumulated  set 
forth  with  scientific  fulness  and  detail. 

It  has  been  my  aim  to  make  this  book  worthy  of 
and  adapted  for  the  most  general  reading,  yet  at  the 
same  time  to  give  it  a  character  that  may,  I  trust, 
secure  for  it  the  attention  of  Arctic  students  and  scien- 
tific specialists. 

My  Expeditions  have  gathered  valuable  scientific 
material  in  ethnology,  meteorology,  geography,  and 
natural  history.  This  material  has  not  as  yet  been 
digested  and  collated  by  experts.  When  it  has  it  will 
be  presented  in  monograph  form. 

Dependent  upon  the  results  of  my  coming  Expe- 
dition, this  book  will  clear  the  field  for  something 
further,  or  will  form  the  complete  record  of  my  Arctic 
work. 

R.  E.  PEARY, 
Civil  Engineer,  United  States  Navy. 

New  York,  May,  1898. 


INTRODUCTION. 


a. 


H 
(J 

<: 

Id 
X 

(- 


INTRODUCTION. 


M'^' 


Arctic  work  com- 
prises : 

1st.  A  summer 
voyage  and  reconnais- 
sance of  the  Greenland 
Inland  Ice,  1886. 

2d.  A  thirteen-months' 
sojourn  in  Northern 
Greenland,  including  a 
t  \v  e  1 V  e  -h  u  n  d  r  e  d  -  m  i  1  e 
sledge  journey  across  the 
ice-cap,  and  the  determin- 
ation of  the  insularity  of  Greenland,  1891-92. 

^d.  A  twenty-five-months'  stay  in  North  Greenland, 
including  a  second  twelve-hundred-mile  sledge  jour- 
ney across  the  ice-cap,  the  completion  of  the  study 
of  the  Whale-Sound  natives,  a  detail  survey  of  that 
region,  and  the  discovery  of  the  great  Cape-York 
meteorites,  1893-95. 

4tli.  Summervoyages  in  1896  and  1897,  including 
the  securing  of  the  last  and  the  largest  of  the  great 
Cape-York  meteorites,  the  90-ton  mass. 

Before  taking  up  these  expeditions  in  their  order,  I 
will  attempt  to  bring  home  to  the  reader  a  realistic 
conception  of  what  the  land  which  has  been  the  scene 
of  action  is  actually  like. 

Stretching  southward  over  the  swelling  bosom  of 
the  earth,   Greenland  is   the  pendent  brooch  in  the 


XXX  Introduction 

glittering  necklace  of  snow  and  ice  which  circles  the 
North  Pole. 

It  is  an  Arctic  island-continent,  the  most  interesting 
of  Arctic  lands  ;  a  land  of  startling  contrasts  ;  a  land 
of  midnight  suns  and  noonday  nights  ;  of  tropical 
skies  and  eternal  ice  ;  of  mountains  with  sides  still 
tinged  with  the  deep  warm  glow  of  ancient  volcanic 
fires,  and  summits  hidden  beneath  caps  of  everlasting 
snow. 

I  fancy  most  of  my  readers  will  be  surprised  to 
learn  that  Greenland  has  a  history  accented  by  events 
as  stranofe  as  its  own  midnieht  sunliorht  and  far-stretch- 
ing  snow-fields. 

Nine  hundred  years  ago,  Erik,  an  Iceland  outlaw, 
discovered  the  country  and  named  it  Greenland,  "  be- 
cause," he  said,  "people  would  sooner  be  induced  to 
go  thither  in  case  it  had  a  good  name."  Shrewd  old 
land  agent  !  From  the  colony  founded  by  him,  his 
son  Lief  and  other  restless  spirits  sallied  forth  to  the 
discovery  of  the  New  World.  Centuries  after,  from 
these  iceberg-haunted  seas,  went  forth,  it  is  said,  a 
gleaming  pile  of  walrus  tusks,  tribute  for  the  Crusades. 

Then  a  hostile  fleet  descended  upon  the  colonies, 
and  ravished  away  many  of  the  inhabitants,  to  replace 
those  carried  off  by  the  plague,  or  "  black  death,"  in 
Europe.  Strange  anomaly — Greenland  repopulating 
Europe  !  Finally,  the  last  of  the  shipmasters  who 
knew  the  route  to  Greenland  were  assassinated  by 
German  merchants  to  whom  they  refused  to  sell  their 
cargoes,  and  Greenland  in  the  fifteenth  century 
dropped  out  of  the  world  and  was  absolutely  forgotten 
before  the  voyages  of  Columbus. 

A  century  or  more  later,  Davis  rediscovered  the 
"  Land  of  Desolation,"  but  the  colonists  had  disap- 
peared, and  to-day,  though  the  Danes  occupy  nearly 
all  the  inhabitable  land  in  Greenland,  only  scattered 


Introduction  xxxi 

ruins  of  houses  and  churches  have  been  found,  and 
these  are  mute  as  to  the  mysterious  fate  of  their 
former  inhabitants. 

Geographically  and  topographically,  Greenland  has 
been,  since  the  day  its  black  cliffs  loomed  through  the 
Arctic  fog  upon  the  eyes  of  Erik,  a  land  of  mystery, 
and  a  source  of  constantly  increasing  interest  and 
speculation. 

It  has  been  traced  farther  into  the  terra  incognita 
that  encompasses  the  Pole  than  any  other  land  on  the 
globe,  and  there  are  reasons  for  thinking  that  its 
northern  headland  may  be  one  abutment  of  a  bridge 
of  islands,  over  which,  through  years  of  Arctic  summer 
day  and  winter  night,  a  portion  of  the  human  race 
slowly  migrated  from  Siberia,  via  the  Pole,  to  this 
hemisphere. 

Its  interior  is  the  last  of  those  glacial  conditions 
which  for  ages  submerged  northern  Europe,  and 
northern   North  America,  in  its  icy  flood. 

Its  northern  shores  are  famous  with  the  names  of 
Americans  who  have  dra^cred  its  sable  headlands  and 

oo 

icy  bays  out  of  the  Arctic  fog  and  night. 

From  Cape  Farewell,  its  southern  extremity,  in  the 
same  latitude  as  Christiania,  St.  Petersburg,  and 
Mount  St.  Elias,  to  Cape  Washington,  its  northern- 
most known  limit,  in  latitude  83°  38'  N.,  the  distance 
is  fifty  miles  greater  than  the  extreme  width  of  the 
United  States,  from  the  mouth  of  the  Rio  Grande  to 
the  49th  parallel.  It  is  probable,  however,  that  its 
northern  limit  is  near  or  within  the  85th  parallel,  in 
which  case  its  extreme  length  is  some  1739  statute 
miles,  about  the  same  as  the  air-line  distance  from 
Washington  to  the  City  of  Mexico.  From  Cape 
Hatherton,  its  most  westerly,  to  Cape  Bismarck,  its 
most  easterly,  known  limit,  is  six  hundred  and  ninety 
miles. 


xxxii  Introduction 

Its  area  is  from  740,000  to  750,000  square  miles, 
about  the  same  as  tliat  of  Mexico,  and  four  times 
the  area  of  the  New  England  and  Middle  States. 
No  less  than  four-fifths  of  this  area,  or  600,000  square 
miles,  equivalent  to  three  times  the  area  of  France  or 
the  German  Empire,  and  thirteen  times  the  area  of 
Pennsylvania,  is  covered  by  the  Inland  Ice. 

The  population  of  the  country  is  about  ten  thousand. 
Two  or  three  hundred  of  this  number  are  Danes  lo- 
cated south  of  7T,^°  N.  Lat.,  and  the  Danish  Crown 
has  a  fleet  of  six  or  eight  ships,  for  transporting  the 
blubber,  eiderdown,  ivory,  and  furs  obtained  in  the 
southern  part  of  the  country. 

The  coast  is  bold  and  mountainous,  cut  by  numerous 
deep  fjords,  and  protected  by  an  advance  guard  of  out- 
lying rocky  islands.  Some  of  these  fjords  extend 
inland  a  distance  of  sixty  to  eighty  miles,  and  many  of 
them  are  the  outlets  of  great  glacier  streams  from  the 
Inland  Ice. 

But  it  is  in  the  character  of  its  interior  that  the  chief 
interest  centres.  We  all  have  a  general  idea  of  Green- 
land, and  know  that  its  interior  is  covered  with  snow 
and  ice,  yet  the  actual  facts  are  so  different  from  any- 
thing existing  in  lower  latitudes,  so  entirely  dissimilar 
from  anything  with  which  we  are  personally  acquainted, 
and  which  we  might  use  as  a  foundation  from  which  to 
start  our  conception,  that  I  doubt  if  one  in  ten,  even  of 
the  best-read,  has  a  true  conception  of  the  actuality  of 
this  great  glacial  continent. 

All  there  is  of  land,  as  we  understand  the  term,  in 
Greenland,  is  a  ribbon  five  to  twenty-five  (and  in  one  or 
two  places  sixty  to  eighty)  miles  in  width,  along  the 
coast,  made  up  of  mountains  and  valleys  and  deep 
branching  fjords  ;  surrounded  by  the  Arctic  Sea,  play- 
ground of  the  iceberg  and  the  pack  ice,  and  itself  in  turn 
surrounding  and  supporting,  like  aTitan  dam,  the  great 


Introduction  xxxiii 

white  ice-cap  beneath  which  the  interior  of  the  coun- 
try is  buried.  Wlien  I  saj'  this,  I  am  sure  most  of 
us  immediately  think  of  some  particularly  mountain- 
ous region  with  which  we  are  familiar,  as  for  instance 
the  Rockies,  the  Sierras,  the  Alps,  or  the  Pyrenees, 
covered  several  hundred  feet  deep  in  snow  and  ice, 
yet  still  retaining  the  original  irregularities  of  the 
region.  Such  a  mental  picture,  however,  would  in  no 
way  represent  the  conditions  of  interior  Greenland. 
There,  the  accumulated  snow  precipitation  of  cen- 
turies, in  a  latitude  and  altitude  where  it  is  practically 
correct  to  say  that  it  never  rains  and  the  snow  does 
not  melt  even  in  the  long  summer  day,  has  gradually 
filled  all  the  valleys  of  the  interior,  until  it  has  levelled 
them  even  with  the  mountain  summits,  and  still  piling 
higher  through  the  centuries,  has  at  last  buried  the 
highest  of  these  mountain  summits  hundreds  and 
even  thousands  of  feet  deep  in  snow  and  ice. 

The  interior  of  Greenland  to-day  is  simply  an  ele- 
vated unbroken  plateau  of  snow,  lifted  from  five 
thousand  to  eight  thousand  and  even  ten  thousand 
feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea  ;  a  huge  white  glistening 
shield  some  twelve  hundred  miles  in  length  and  five 
hundred  miles  in  width,  resting  on  the  supporting 
mountains.  It  is  an  Arctic  Sahara,  in  comparison 
with  which  the  African  Sahara  is  insignificant.  Fot 
on  this  frozen  Sahara  of  inner  Greenland  occurs  no 
form  of  life,  animal  or  vegetable  ;  no  fragment  of 
rock,  no  grain  of  sand  is  visible.  The  traveller 
across  its  frozen  wastes,  travelling  as  I  have  week 
after  week,  sees,  outside  of  himself  and  his  own 
party,  but  three  things  in  all  the  world,  namely,  the 
infinite  expanse  of  the  frozen  plain,  the  infinite  dome 
of  the  cold  blue  sky,  and  the  cold  white  sun, — nothings 
but  these.  The  traveller,  too,  across  this  frozen  desert 
knows  that  at  no  time  during  his  journey  are  the  high- 


xxxiv  Introduction 

est  rocks  of  the  mountain  summits  below  liim  nearer 
than  from  one  thousand  to  five  thousand  feet  down 
through  the  mighty  blanket  of  snow.  Such  is  the  in- 
terior of  Greenland,  and  it  is  upon  the  surface  of  this 
uplifted  desolation,  in  nearly  straight  lines,  at  a  constant 
elevation  of  from  five  thousand  to  eight  thousand  feet 
above  the  level  of  the  sea,  that  my  sledge  journeys 
have  been  made,  in  widest  contradistinction  to  the 
road  of  the  usual  Arctic  sledge-party,  the  frozen  sur- 
face of  the  polar  sea  at  the  sea-level,  along  and  out- 
side of  the  ragged  periphery  of  an  Arctic  coast-line. 

In  the  fall  of  1885,  I  had  completed  my  work  on 
the  maps  and  plans  of  the  Government  Nicaragua  In- 
teroceanic  Ship-Canal  Survey,  from  which  I  had  re- 
turned the  previous  summer,  and  affairs  had  taken  on 
an  aspect  which  made  it  seem  as  if  the  project  would 
inevitably  be  postponed  indefinitely. 

Something  was  necessary  to  occupy  my  leisure 
from  Navy-Yard  routine,  and  take  the  place  of  the 
subject  to  which  I  had  devoted  my  surplus  energy 
for  the  past  six  years. 

One  evening,  in  one  of  my  favourite  haunts,  an  old 
book-store  in  Washington,  I  came  upon  a  fugitive 
paper  on  the  Inland  Ice  of  Greenland.  A  chord, 
which,  as  a  boy,  had  vibrated  intensely  in  me  at  the 
reading  of  Kane's  wonderful  book,  was  touched  again. 
I  read  all  I  could  upon  the  subject,  noted  the  conflict- 
ing e.xperiences  of  Nordenskjold.  Jensen,  and  the  rest, 
and  felt  that  I  must  see  for  myself  what  the  truth 
was  of  this  great  mysterious  interior. 

My  summer  voyage  to  Greenland  in  1886  and  re- 
connaissance of  the  Inland  Ice  (Part  I.  of  this  narra- 
tive) was  the  outcome. 

In  a  paper  read  before  the  National  Academy  of 
Sciences  at  Washington,  April  23,  1886,  occurs  the 
followine  : 


Introduction  xxxv 

"  After  a  perusal  of  these  attempts  [to  explore  the 
Inland  Ice],  the  truth  of  the  following  statement  will, 
I  think,  be  apparent,  viz.  :  Not  one  single  determined 
effort  having  for  its  goal  the  east  coast  of  Greenland 
has  ever  been  made,  and  there  is  nothing  to  show 
that  an  intelligent  and  determined  effort  and  the  de- 
votion of  an  entire  season  to  the  work  would  not  be 
crowned  with  success.  The  question  that  naturally 
arises  then  is,  how  can  it  be  done  ? 

"  There  are  two  ways  :  one  is  to  start  from,  say, 
Auleitsivik  Fjord,  and  travel  south-easterly  to  the 
coast  south  of  Cape  Dan,  then  to  follow  the  coast 
round  Cape  Farewell  to  the  settlements.  This  might 
take  two  seasons  to  accomplish,  as,  after  reaching  the 
coast,  one  would  necessarily,  to  a  large  extent,  be  de- 
pendent on  the  movements  of  the  natives.  The  dis- 
tance across  at  this  point  is,  however,  less  than  four 
hundred  statute  miles,  and  I  have  not  the  slightest 
doubt  but  that,  by  starting  at  the  right  season  of  a 
favourable  year,  the  distance  across  and  back  could 
be  accomplished  in  one  summer. 

"  The  other,  more  arduous,  but  at  the  same  time 
more  attractive,  route  has  for  its  origin  Whale  Sound 
or  vicinity,  and  for  its  finish,  a  point  on  the  unknown 
east  coast  near  the  8oth  parallel,  and  this  route  I 
believe  to  be  the  key  to  the  solution  of  the  Greenland 
problem.  This,  I  believe,  is  the  way  by  which  not 
only  the  crossing  of  Greenland  but  the  delineation 
and  closing  of  its  coast-line  will  be  accomplished." 

In  an  interview  before  starting,  published  in  the 
New  York  Herald,  May  8,  1886,  appears  the  following  : 

"  For  the  accomplishment  of  the  simple  feat  of 
crossing,  he  [Peary]  believes  a  route  from  Nordensk- 
jold's  base  at  Auleitsivik  Fjord,  in  a  south-easterly 
direction  to  the  east  coast  near  the  Graah  Islands, 
south  of  Cape  Dan,  offers  facilities  superior  perhaps 


xxxvi  Introduction 

to  any  other.  The  distance  is  less  than  four  hundred 
miles,  and  though  there  is  a  possibility  that  the  trip 
out  and  back  might,  with  an  early  start  and  under 
very  favourable  circumstances,  be  made  in  a  season, 
the  chances  are  that  the  return  would  be  made  along 
the  coast  to  Cape  Farewell. 

"  A  third  route,  in  which  the  fact  of  crossing  to  the 
east  coast  would  be  of  secondary  importance,  a  step 
to  something-  more,  has  for  its  origin  Whale  Sound 
or  vicinity,  and  for  its  finish  a  point  on  the  unknown 
east  coast  near  the  8oth  parallel.  This  route, 
once  shown  to  be  practicable,  would  be  the  key  to  the 
solution  of  the  Greenland  problem,  and  would  be  the 
way  by  which  the  delineation  and  closing  of  the  coast- 
line of  Greenland  will  be  accomplished,  with  the  least 
risk  and  at  the  least  expense." 

It  will  be  observed  that  the  route  by  which  Nansen 
attempted  to  cross  Greenland  in  1888,  is  here  pointed 
out,  and  that  my  own  journey  from  Whale  Sound  to 
Independence  Bay,  accomplished  in  1892,  was  already 
fully  developed  in  my  mind. 

Returning  from  my  reconnaissance,  full  of  enthusi- 
astic plans  for  accomplishing  the  crossing  of  Green- 
land and  then  attacking  the  problem  of  its  northern 
extension,  I  found  the  Nicaragua  project  infused  with 
new  life  and  blood,  and  the  next  two  years  of  my 
time  were  devoted  to  it,  part  of  the  time  at  home, 
part  in  command  of  the  Locating  Expedition  in 
Nicaragua. 

Returning  from  this  work,  I  was  detailed  to  League 
Island,  Philadelphia,  in  charge  of  the  construction  of 
the  timber  dry  dock,  about  to  be  commenced  at  the 
Navy  Yard  there.  A  brief  paper  covering  my  sum- 
mer's work,  noting  my  deductions,  and  formulating 
my  comprehensive  plan  for  the  overland  exploration 
of   Greenland    was  published  in   the  Bulletin  oj  Ike 


Introduction  xxxvii 

Aniei'uan  Geographical  Society  for  December,  1886. 
In  1888,  Nansen  effected  the  crossing  of  Southern 
Greenland,  starting  on  the  shortest  of  my  indicated 
routes,  but  being  compelled  to  modify  his  plans  and 
finally  crossing  on  a  route  two  hundred  and  eighty 
miles  long. 

This  forestalling  of  my  work'  was  a  serious  blow  to 
me  ;  but  my  duty  to  the  Service  left  me  helpless,  and 
I  could  only  fall  back  upon  the  other  northern  route. 
Needless  to  say  my  project  was  always  with  me,  and 
as  soon  as  the  dry  dock  neared  completion  I  put  my 
plan  in  formal  shape,  and  presented  it  for  the  con- 
sideration and  endorsement  of  prominent  societies 
and  individuals :  Philadelphia  Academy  of  Natural 
Sciences,  American  Geographical  Society,  National 
Geographical  Society,  and  Brooklyn  Institute.  It 
was  unanimously  endorsed  by  all  these,  and  the  Navy 
Department  having  been  sounded  informally,  I  sent 
in  an  application  for  eighteen  months'  leave,  accom- 
panied by  a  brief  of  my  project  and  the  strongest  let- 
ters from  Judge  Daly,  Professors  Leidy,  Putnam, 
Adams,  and  others.  My  object  was  to  reach  and 
determine  the  northern  limit  of  Greenland  overland, 
i.  e.,  across  the  Inland  Ice. 

The  salient  features  of  my  plan  were  : 

First  and  foremost,  the  utilisation  of  the  elevated 
surface  of  the  great  interior  sea  of  ice  lying  within 
the  coast-land  ribbon,  as  a  direct  and  imperial  high- 
way to  the  point  of  destination. 

Second,  a  party  of  minimum  size. 

Third,  entire  reliance  upon  the  game  of  the  region 


'  "  Peary  and  Maigaard,  with  their  scanty  equipment,  had  made  a  highly  suc- 
cessful inroad  upon  the  Greenland  ice-field,  intended,  as  Peary  had  expressly 
stated  in  his  brief  narrative,  merely  as  a  preliminary  reconnaissance.  A'aiisen 
had  no  time  to  lose  if  lie  did  not  want  to  fie  anticipated." — Fridtiof  Nansen, 
Longmans,  Green,  &  Co.,  1896,  p.  160. 


^i.^ 


^vi^^-T- 


Introduction  xxxix 

about  my  base,  or  headquarters,  for  the  meat-supply 
of  my  part)'. 

Fourth,  extreme  lightness  and  compactness  of 
sledges  and  equipment,  rendered  possible  by  the  sur- 
face to  be  traversed. 

Fifth,  the  presence  of  the  leader  of  the  Expedition 
in  the  van  of  exploration. 

My  application  was  favourably  endorsed  by  the 
Commandant  at  League  Island,  Captain  H.  B.  Seeley, 
U.  S.  N.  ;  by  the  Chief  of  the  Bureau  of  Yards  and 
Docks,  Commodore  Norman  H.  Parquhar,  U.  S.  N., 
hero  of  the  Samoan  disaster  ;  and  was  immediately 
granted  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  Hon.  Benj. 
F.  Tracy. 

The  American  Geographical  Society  then  appro- 
priated $1000;  Professor  Putnam  assigned  $1000 
for  an  ethnological  exhibit  for  the  Columbian  Expo- 
sition ;  the  New  York  Sun  offered  $1000  for  letters; 
Verhoeff  contributed  $2000  ;  and  Professor  Heilprin, 
of  the  Philadelphia  Academy,  organised  an  auxiliary 
expedition,  the  members  of  which  contributed  amounts 
which,  together  with  smaller  amounts  from  various 
friends  and  a  few  thousand  dollars  of  my  own,  per- 
mitted the  fitting  out  of  my  North-Greenland  Expe- 
dition of  1891-92,  and  the  chartering  of  a  ship  to  take 
it  north. 

An  explicit  statement  is  necessary  here  to  correct 
erroneous  impressions.  The  Philadelphia  Academy 
was  the  first  institution  to  which  my  project  was  pre- 
sented, and  the  first  to  endorse  and  commend  it, 
which  it  did  in  warm  and  unequivocal  terms.  As  an 
institution,  however,  the  Academy  never  appropriated 
or  contributed  a  dollar  to  the  Expedition.  Members 
of  the  Academy,  in  their  private  capacity,  did  con- 
tribute powerfully,  both  in  work  and  money,  towards 
its  success. 


y^^^^di^J^^^U^  — 


Introduction  xli 

To  the  personal  interest,  friendship,  and  intense  en- 
ergy and  push  of  Prof.  Angelo  Heilprin,  Curator  of 
the  Academy,  was  I  indebted,  more  than  to  any  other 
one  person,  not  only  for  the  official  action  of  the 
Academy,  but  for  the  unofficial  interest  and  efforts 
of  its  members,  which  assured  the  balance  of  the 
funds  necessary  to  make  the  affair  a  success. 

To  the  late  distinguished  President  Leidy  and  the 
Council  of  the  Academy  of  National  Sciences  of 
Philadelphia  ;  to  Prof.  F".  W.  Putnam,  of  the  Ameri- 
can Association  for  the  Advancement  of  Science  ;  to 
Judge  Charles  P.  Daly,  President  of  the  American 
Geographical  Society  ;  to  Prof.  F.  W.  Hooper,  Di- 
rector of  the  Brooklyn  Institute  ;  to  President  Adams 
and  the  E.xecutive  Committee  of  the  Geographical 
Department  of  the  Brooklyn  Institute  ;  to  Professors 
Lee  and  Young  and  the  President  and  other  mem- 
bers of  the  faculty  of  Bowdoin  College,  my  Alma 
Mater,  I  was  indebted  for  cordial  and  most  valuable 
endorsement  of  my  project. 

To  Secretary  Tracy  I  was  indebted  for  my  leave, 
for  his  approval  of  my  project,  and  for  his  kindly  in- 
terest in  my  plans  ;  and  to  Commodore  Farquhar 
and  Chief-Engineer  Melville,  chiefs,  respectively,  of 
the  Bureaus  of  Yards  and  Docks,  and  Steam  Engi- 
neering, for  kindly  offices  which  no  others  were  in 
a  position  to  render  so  effectively. 

To  the  National  Geographic  Society  I  am  under 
obligations  for  its  interest  in  my  work,  and  to  the  So- 
ciety and  Miss  Ulrica  Dahlgren  for  a  beautiful  flag, 
to  be  carried  to  the  "farthest." 

Though  friends  in  the  Portland  Society  of  Natural 
History,  and  others,  accompanied  their  wishes  for 
success  with  tangible  enclosures,  it  was  to  the  Ameri- 
can Geographical  Society,  and  particularly  to  the 
efforts  of  the  active,  enthusiastic  members  of  the  North- 


xlii  Introduction 

Greenland  Committee  of  the  Philadelphia  Academy 
of  Natural  Sciences,  Professors  Leidy,  Sharp,  Heil- 
prin,  and  Brinton,  Mr.  Hart,  and  Drs.  Ruschen- 
berger  and  McCook,  that  I  was  indebted  for  the 
sinews  of  war  necessary,  in  addition  to  my  own  re- 
sources, to  fit  out  my  Expedition. 

And  when  the  unlooked-for  point-blank  refusal  of 
the  Dundee  whaling  companies  and  the  director  of 
the  Greenland  trade  to  give  my  party  transportation 
to  Greenland  in  any  of  their  vessels,  on  any  terms, 
made  it  necessary  to  charter  a  vessel  for  the  purpose, 
Professor  Putnam,  in  behalf  of  his  Department  of 
Ethnology  of  the  World's  Fair,  Mr.  Verhoeff,  and 
the  organisation  by  Professor  Heilprin  of  a  party  of 
scientific  men  to  make  a  summer  scientific  cruise,  as- 
sured the  additional  funds  necessary  to  meet  the  more 
than  doubled  expense. 

Thus  the  North-Greenland  Expedition  of  1891-92. 
(Part  II.)  After  my  return  from  this  Expedition,  on 
the  Kite,  which  again,  through  the  indefatigable  en- 
ergy and  efforts  of  Professor  Heilprin  and  friends  in 
the  Academy  had  been  sent  for  me, — though  I  felt  my 
friends  were  right  in  saying  that  I  had  accomplished 
a  brilliant  feat  in  my  long  sledge  journey, — I  was  far 
from  satisfied.  I  felt  that  there  was  still  further  im- 
portant work  to  be  done  in  the  north,  and  now,  while 
the  iron  was  hot,  and  I  armed  with  the  experience 
already  gained. 

An  important  factor  in  this  connection  was  a  prop- 
osition made  by  Major  Jas.  B.  Pond,  the  widely  known 
lecture  impresario,  in  regard  to  a  series  of  lectures. 
This  proposition  promised  to  yield  me  the  funds  for 
another  expedition,  which  should  be  on  a  more  pre- 
tentious scale  than  the  first.  But  for  this  I  needed 
an  additional  leave,  which  I  had  reason  to  believe 
would  not  be  readily  granted. 


Introduction  xliii 

I  approached  Dr.  Nolan,  Secretary  of  the  Acad- 
emy. His  advice  was:  "  See  the  President,  General 
Wistar.  If  he  favours  your  scheme  he  can  assist  you 
in  obtaining  your  leave  ;  if  not,  the  Academy  will 
take  no  steps."  My  interview  with  General  Wistar 
took  place  the  same  day.  At  its  close  he  said  :  "  I 
believe  you  should  have  the  opportunity  to  carry  out 
your  project.  On  the  understanding  that  the  Acad- 
emy will  not  be  called  upon  for  any  money,  its  endow- 
ment not  being  lawfully  available  for  this  purpose,  and 
will  not  be  responsible  for  the  risks  to  yourself  and 
companions,  I  will  use  my  best  efforts  to  obtain  your 
leave."  With  this  powerful  influence  in  my  favour,  I 
felt  the  thing  already  done.  Assisted  by  his  friends, 
Drs.  Chapman  and  Dixon  of  the  Academy,  General 
Wistar  presented  the  matter  to  the  Navy  Department 
in  such  a  convincing  light  that  the  Secretary,  Hon.  B. 
F.  Trac)',  at  once  granted  me  three  years'  leave. 

This  was  November,  1892.  I  had  six  months  in 
which  to  raise  the  funds,  organise  my  party,  and  equip 
and  fit  my  Expedition.  It  was  too  much  work  for  the 
time,  and  though  it  was  done,  some  of  it  was  not  care- 
fully done.  This  applies  specially  to  the  selection  of 
my  party.  Carried  away  by  enthusiasm,  and  with  no 
time  in  the  rapid  whirl  of  effort  for  a  calm  considera- 
tion of  the  matter,  I  made  the  fatal  mistake  of  taking, 
contrary  to  my  expressed  theory,  a  large  party.  I 
found,  when  too  late,  that  I  had  very  little  suitable 
timber  for  Arctic  work  in  it. 

From  my  lectures,  of  which  I  delivered  one  hundred 
and  si.xty-eight  in  ninety-six  days,  I  raised  $13,000; 
Mrs.  Peary  put  in  all  the  money  received  for  her 
books  ;  the  American  Geographical  Society  again  con- 
tributed $1000  ;  the  New  York  Sjui  doubled  its  offer 
of  the  previous  year,  for  letters ;  and  receipts  from 
other  sources  amounted  to  two  or  three  thousand. 


^yrf-'i'VJ^  ^.  fo  fMj^<i^n4-- 


Introduction  xlv 

Still  the  total  was  not  svifficient,  and  just  at  this 
time  the  silver  panic  materialised,  and  it  was  im- 
possible to  get  any  society  or  individual  interested. 
I  had  already  chartered  my  ship,  ordered  my  equip- 
ment and  supplies,  enlisted  my  party,  and  now  had 
not  sufficient  funds  to  meet  the  demands.  What  was 
to  be  done  ?  At  this  crisis  a  friend  suggested  put- 
ting my  ship  on  exhibition,  and  raising  the  balance 
needed  in  this  manner.  I  hesitated  some  time.  The 
idea  was  extremely  distasteful  to  me,  but  there  was 
no  other  alternative,  and  the  people  of  Philadelphia, 
New  York,  Boston,  and  Portland  were  given  an  op- 
portunity to  visit  the  ship  on  the  payment  of  a  nom- 
inal admission. 

As  a  result,  the  quarters  of  the  people  made  up 
the  needed  balance. 

The  North  Greenland  Expedition  of  1893-94  (  Part 
III.)  sailed  in  the  Falcon,  June,   1893. 

This  time  my  ship,  a  much  larger  one  than  the  Kite, 
was  chartered  for  two  voyages — to  take  me  north 
anil  bring  me  back.  She  returned  for  me  in  1894 
with  Mr.  Henry  G.  Bryant,  of  Philadelphia,  who  had 
been  Prof.  Heilprin's  second  in  command  in  1892,  in 
command  of  an  auxiliary  expedition.  My  expenditures 
the  previous  year  had  been  in  excess  of  my  estimates, 
and  now  the  balance  necessary  to  pay  the  expenses  of 
the  ship  was  met  by  my  mother,  and  the  efforts  of 
Prof.  Heilprin  in  organising  the  auxiliary  part)'. 

My  previous  year's  work  not  having  been  success- 
ful, I  remained,  with  Lee  and  Henson,  while  the  rest 
of  the  party  returned.  Mrs.  Peary  and  our  little  girl 
also  came  home.  While  going  from  Philadelphia  to 
St.  John's,  after  landing  the  party,  the  Falcon,  with  all 
on  board,  was  lost. 

All  my  own  means  and  Mrs.  Peary's  as  well  had 
now  been  exhausted,  and  it  devolved  upon  her,  single- 


Introduction  xlvii 

handed,  to  raise  the  money  to  send  a  ship  for  me  and 
my  companions  the  following  year. 

Her  most  earnest  efforts  met  with  but  ill  success 
in  raising  the  total  amount,  although  the  American 
Geographical  Society  again  came  forward  with  $1000, 
the  American  Museum  of  Natural  History  appropri- 
ated $1000,  the  Geographical  Club  of  Philadelphia, 
through  the  efforts  of  Professor  Heilprin,  its  President, 
raised  $760  to  send  one  of  its  members,  the  National 
Geographical  Society  organised  a  lecture  which  netted 
Mrs.  Peary  $400,  and  several  friends,  Judge  Daly,  Miss 
Thorn,  Mrs.  Bryant,  Mr.  Baring,  Mr.  Bryant,  and  Mr. 
Parrish,  contributed  various  sums. 

At  this  juncture,  the  President  of  the  American 
Museum,  Morris  K.  Jesup,  in  his  private  capacity, 
stepped  in,  with  unexampled  generosity,  and  guaran- 
teed whatever  balance  might  be  necessary  to  complete 
the  full  amount,  and  the  Kite  again  went  north  in 
1895,  with  Mr.  Emil  Diebitsch — whose  experience  in 
1894  especially  fitted  him  for  the  place,  who  had  given 
his  time  and  energy  unreservedly  to  aid  Mrs.  Peary, 
and  who  now  unselfishly  set  aside  his  own  affairs  en- 
tirely— in  command  of  the  Expedition. 

Returning  from  this  Expedition  exhausted  by  the 
strain  of  my  ice-cap  journey,  and,  as  I  now  appreciate, 
not  myself  physically  or  mentally,  I  felt  as  if  my 
Arctic  efforts  were  ended,  and  the  fact  that  there 
were  two  well-equipped  expeditions  still  in  the  field, 
with  a  good  chance  of  accomplishing  their  objects, 
made  me  feel  as  if  my  life-work  had  been  a  failure. 

There  were  still  some  unfinished  threads  of  my 
work  to  be  knotted,  before  I  loosened  my  grasp  upon 
it  and  turned  my  eyes  away  from  my  dream, — threads 
which  my  struggle  for  something  more  important  had 
left  me  no  time  to  attend  to.  The  principal  one  of 
these   items  of  unfinished   business  was  the  securing 


^^-    ^     X)  ^n^ydy" 


Introduction  xlix 

of  the  third,  last,  and  largest  of  the  great  Cape-York 
meteorites  which  I  had  discovered  in  1894,  and  to  ac- 
complish this  I  was  anxious  to  make  another  summer 
voyage. 

There  was  very  strong  opposition  to  my  obtaining 
the  necessary  leave  for  this,  but  President  Jesup's 
powerful  influence,  assisted  by  the  personal  efforts 
of  Hon.  \Vm.  C.  Whitney,  overcame  it,  and  the 
opportunity  was  afforded  me  of  making  the  summer 
voyage  of  1896. 

Returning  from  this  voyage  unaccompanied  by  the 
meteorite,  owing  to  hostile  conditions,  I  was  met  by 
the  news  of  Nansen's  return  from  his  three  years' 
drift  through  the  polar  basin,  and  his  attainment  of 
an  exceptionally  high  northing,  and  learned  that 
during  the  long  drift  no  land  had  been  seen  from  the 
Fi'am,  though  she  had  passed  across  a  line  drawn 
from  Franz  Joseph  Land  to  the  Pole.  This  vetoed 
Jackson's  hopes  and  eliminated  the  entire  Siberian 
half  of  the  polar  basin  from  any  further  serious  con- 
sideration as  a  possible  route  for  reaching  the  Pole. 
The  summer's  voyage  and  the  Arctic  atmosphere  had 
brushed  away  the  last  vestige  of  the  previous  year's 
exhaustion  and  morbidness.  I  felt  once  more  my 
old-time  clan  and  sanguineness.  The  fact  that  the 
field  was  not  only  still  open,  but  that  the  plan  nest- 
ling fully  developed  in  my  mind  before  my  return 
was  now  proven  to  be  not  merely  the  most  practicable 
but  the  only  remaining  practical  one  by  which  to  reach 
the  yet  unsealed  apex  of  the  earth,  filled  me  with 
new  hopes  and  courage. 

Plans  which,  though  fully  developed  before,  it 
would  have  been  entirely  premature  to  have  put 
forth  previous  to  the  finale  of  Nansen's  and  Jackson's 
work,  were  now  ripe  for  promulgation,  and  at  the 
annual  meeting  of    the  American   Geographical   So- 


Introduction  li 

ciety,  January  12,  1897,  on  the  occasion  of  the  Soci- 
ety's presentation  to  me  of  the  first  Cullum  Medal,  I 
broached  my  project  for  effecting  "the  conquest  of 
the  North  Pole,  the  complete  delimitation  of  the 
Greenland  Archipelago,  and  the  elimination  from  our 
maps  of  the  unknown  area  between  the  84th  parallel 
and  the  Pole." 

My  plan  was  in  brief:  "To  raise  a  fund  sufficient 
to  insure  the  continuation  of  the  work  of  explora- 
tion for  five  years,  if  necessary,  say  $150,000,  and 
deposit  it  in  a  trust  company ;  purchase  a  ship  ;  give 
her  a  minimum  crew ;  load  with  concentrated  pro- 
visions ;  proceed  to  Whale  Sound  ;  take  on  board 
several  picked  families  of  my  faithful  Eskimos,  with 
their  tents,  canoes,  dogs,  etc.  ;  force  a  way  through 
Robeson  Channel  to  Sherard-Osborn  Fjord  or  farther, 
and  land  people  and  stores  ;  then  send  the  ship  back. 
As  soon  as  the  freezing  of  the  ice  in  the  great  fjords 
of  the  north-west  coast  would  permit  sledge  travel,  the 
work  of  advancing  supplies  north-eastward  along  the 
coast  would  be  commenced,  taking  comparatively 
short  stages  and  light  loads  so  that  the  trips  could  be 
quickly  made.  As  soon  as  the  supplies  had  been  ad- 
vanced the  first  stage,  the  party  itself  would  move 
forward,  leaving  a  cache  behind,  and  as  they  w^ould  be 
following  Eskimo  customs  and  living  in  snow  houses, 
this  could  easily  be  done.  Then  the  second  stage  of 
advance  would  be  taken  up,  and  the  work  carried  on 
until  the  departure  of  the  sun.  Each  of  the  brilliant 
winter  moons  of  the  polar  night  would  afford  op- 
portunities for  continuing  it,  so  that  early  spring 
should  find  the  party  and  the  bulk  of  its  supplies  lo- 
cated at  the  northern  terminus  of  the  North-Green- 
land Archipelago,  probably  not  far  from  the  85th 
parallel,  with  caches  behind  it  at  each  prominent 
headland.     From  this  point,  when  the  proper  time 


lii  Introduction 

came,  with  picked  dogs,  the  Hghtest  possible  equip- 
ment, and  two  of  the  best  of  the  Eskimos,  the  dash 
for  the  Pole  would  be  attempted  with  strong  proba- 
bilities of  a  successful  termination.  Should  the  first 
season  be  unfavourable  as  regards  ice  conditions,  it 
would  be  devoted  to  a  detailed  survey  of  the  archipel- 
ago itself  and  a  reconnaissance  of  the  east  coast  as 
far  south  as  possible,  and  the  northern  journey  re- 
served for  the  following  season,  or  the  next.  Each 
succeeding"  summer  the  ship  would  attempt  to  estab- 
lish communication  with  the  party's  base,  succeeding 
probably  every  other  year  at  first,  then,  with  increas- 
ing experience,  every  year,  and  keep  up  its  supply  of 
food,  dogs,  and  Eskimos  until  the  objects  of  the  Ex- 
pedition were  accomplished.  .Should  the  ship  be  un- 
successful in  the  passage  of  Robeson  Channel  the 
first  year,  the  party  would  land  at  Hayes  Sound,  antl 
devote  the  first  year  to  explorations  of  that  unknown 
region.  Retreat  from  the  colony  at  Sherard-Osi)orn 
Fjord  would  always  be  practicable  across  the  Inland 
Ice  to  Whale  Sound. 

"  In  a  nutshell  my  project  contemplates: 

"First:  The  raising  of  a  sum  sufficient  to  insure 
persistent,  continued  effort,  so  that  if  the  attempt 
fails  the  first  year  it  can  be  repeated  the  next,  and  the 
next,  and  the  next  until  it  is  done. 

"  Second :  The  establishment  of  a  party  of  picked 
Eskimo  familie.s,  a  surgeon,  and  an  experienced  leader 
at  the  highest  practicable  point  on  the  north-west 
coast  of  Greenland  ;  with  ample  supplies,  means  of 
communication,  which  would  enable  the  colony  to  sus- 
tain itself  until  its  work  is  accomplished,  and  with  a  prac- 
tical line  of  retreat  entirely  independent  of  the  ship." 

The  approval  of  the  project  was  immediate  and 
emphatic,  and  my  friends  began  steps  to  permit  its 
being  put    into  execution.      The   funds  having  been 


Introduction  Hii 

assured,'  the  only  remaining  thing  was  the  necessary 
extended  leave  from  the  Navy  Department. 

The  opposition  which  had  made  itself  felt  in  my 
previous  work  was  now  so  determined,  concentrated, 
and  bitter,  that  though  the  strongrest  memorials  were 
presented  to  the  Navy  Department  by  President 
Jesup  of  the  American  Museum  of  Natural  History, 
President  Daly  of  the  American  Geographical  So- 
ciety, and  urged  by  the  most  prominent  business  and 
scientific  men  in  the  country,  it  took  the  splendid 
force,  personal  efforts,  and  persuasive  eloquence  of 
Charles  A.  Moore,  in  a  direct  appeal  to  his  friend, 
President  McKinley,  to  obtain  from  him  an  intimation 
that  it  would  please  the  President  if  the  necessary 
leave  were  pfranted  me. 


'  Report  of  the  Committee  appointed  February  6,  1897,  to  considkr 

AND  report   upon  A  SCHEME   FOR    PoLAR    EXPLORATION    SUBMITTED   BY 

R.  E.  Peary,  U.S.N. 
To  the  Council  of  the  Anwiicait  Geo^rapJiical  Socit-lw 
Gentlemen  : 

Your  Committee,  having  examined  and  considered  Mr.  R.  E.  Peary's  pro- 
ject of  polar  exploration,  respectfully  report  that  they  find  it  clearly  stated  and 
well  reasoned,  and  in  their  judgment  (so  far  as  men  not  personally  familiar 
with  the  conditions  of  Arctic  life  can  be  supposed  to  form  a  judgment),  practi- 
cable and  worthy  of  suj^port. 

In  itself  and  keeping  in  view  the  objects  sought  to  be  attained — the  added 
distinclion  to  be  won  for  America,  and  the  increase  of  knowledge  among  men — 
and  the  chances  of  success,  the  attempt  is  one  that  ought  to  be  made. 

Considering  Mr.  Peary's  rare  experience  and  his  remarkalile  qualifications 
of  energy,  prudence,  tenacity,  and  fitness  for  command,  it  must  be  regarded  as  a 
singular  advantage  for  his  country  that  he  stands  ready  to  undertake  the  task  for 
which  his  natural  gifts  and  his  acquirements  have  fitted  him  beyond  other  men. 
\'our  Committee  submit,  and  recommend  for  adoption,  the  following  reso- 
tion  : 

A'csolveii,  that  the  Council  of  the  American  Geographical  .Society  heartily 
approves  tlie  project  of  polar  exploration  laid  before  it  by  Civil-Engineer  R.  E. 
Peary.  U.  S.  X.,  and  will  glatUy  contribute  towards  the  expense  of  the  same, 
provided  such  contribution  is  needed  and  will  be  acce]>table,  and  that  other  sub- 
scriptions, sufficient  to  warrant  the  undertaking,  are  secured  by  Mr.  Peary. 
Respectfully  submitted, 

Bancroft  Gherardi.  \ 
Charles  P.  Daly,       [■  Commitlee. 
Chandler  Robbins,     ) 
New  York,  February  20,  1897. 


Introduction  Iv 

The  immediate  outcome  of  that  leave  was  the  voy- 
age of  last  summer  the  Sixth  Peary  Expedition  (Part 
v.),  in  virhich  the  work  of  instructing  my  natives  as  to 
the  coming  year,  in  accordance  with  my  programme, 
was  successfully  accomplished,  and  the  great  meteor- 
ite also  safely  brought  home. 

In  conclusion,  the  men  to  whose  personal  interest, 
efforts,  and  influence  has  been  due,  more  than  to  any- 
one else,  my  ability  to  undertake  my  various  voyages, 
are  in  chronological  order  :  Prof.  Angelo  Heilprin  of 
Philadelphia,  President  of  the  Geographical  Club  of 
Philadelphia,  formerly  Curator  of  the  Philadelphia 
Academy  of  Natural  Sciences  ;  General  I.  J.  Wistar 
of  Philadelphia,  President  of  the  P.  R.  R.  Coal  & 
Canal  Co.,  and  late  President  of  the  Philadelphia  Acad- 
emy of  Natural  Sciences  ;  President  Morris  K.  Jesup 
of  the  American  Museum  of  Natural  History,  New 
York  ;  and  Charles  A.  Moore,  of  Brooklyn. 

Aiding  and  assisting^  these  were  President  H.  W. 
Cannon,  and  Vice-President  Jas.  G.  Cannon  of  New 
York,  Hon.  Francis  Wilson  of  Brooklyn,  and  others 
whose  names  I  am  not  at  liberty  to  mention  here  ;  and 
standing  in  solid  line  ready  to  use  the  weight  of  their 
influence  in  my  favour,  and  to  aid  in  every  way,  morally 
and  financially,  throughout  the  entire  time,  were  Judge 
Daly,  President  of  the  Geographical  Society,  and  his 
Council ;  Chief-Engineer  Geo.  W.  INIelville,  U.  S.  N., 
Chief  of  the  Bureau  of  Steam  Engineering ;  the  New 
York  Stm  ;  Cyrus  C.  Adams,  and  H.  L.  Bridgman. 

Never  was  a  man  more  fortunate  in  his  friends  than 
I.      It  is  impossible  to  enumerate  them  all. 

To  the  societies  and  friends  who  gave  me,  when  I 
needed  help,  the  moral  and  material  support  required 
to  place  my  enterprise  on  its  feet,  I  owe  a  debt  of 
gratitude  which  I  may  acknowledge  here,  but  can  never 
adequately  discharge.     No  one  but  myself  knows  how 


Ivi  Introduction 

potent  their  aid  was  to  me  ;  and  it  is  with  heartfelt 
pleasure  that  I  here  express,  however  feebly,  my  grate- 
ful sense  of  their  helpfulness. 

To  the  newspaper  press,  and  to  the  public  of  my 
native  land,  I  am  indebted  for  their  kind  interest  in 
my  work.  Their  uniform  friendliness  has  been  a 
source  of  much  comfort  to  me. 

Such  in  brief  is  the  sequence  and  thread  of  events 
which  led  up  to  and  connected  my  various  Expe- 
ditions, and  the  part  which  my  friends  have  played  in 
the  work. 

A  few  points,  in  my  judgment,  demand  and  are 
worthy  of  clear,  definite  presentation. 

The  work,  the  narrative  of  which  follows,  has  been 
accomplished  entirely  by  private  enterprise.  I  might 
perhaps  claim,  without  in  any  way  belittling  the  as- 
sistance of  those  who  have  helped  me  with  both 
money  and  influence,  that  it  is  the  result  of  my  single- 
handed  efforts.  Though  a  member  of  that  Service 
which  keeps  the  Stars  and  Stripes  in  all  the  seas  of 
the  globe,  none  of  my  Expeditions — contrary  to  a 
quite  general  impression — has  been  under  Govern- 
ment auspices.  The  Government  has  never  appro- 
priated, nor  been  asked  to  appropriate,  a  dollar  for 
any  of  my  Expeditions.  Nor  has  the  Government 
had  any  responsibility  in  connection  with  my  work. 
It  has,  however,  kindly  given  me  my  time,  i.  e.,  al- 
lowed me  the  leave  necessary  to  enable  me  to  prose- 
cute my  plans. 

Nor  has  any  society  or  individual  contributed  the 
bulk  of  the  funds.  Fully  two-thirds  of  the  total 
amount  expended  by  me  in  my  Arctic  work  during  the 
past  twelve  years  have  been  my  own  personal  earnings. 
Single  contributions  to  my  work  have  never  exceed- 
ed $1000, — except  in  one  instance,  when  President 
Jesup  of  the  American  Museum  of   Natural  History, 


Introduction  Ivii 

with  a  kindness  and  generosity  which  have  made 
me  eternally  his  debtor,  lifted  a  burden  from  Mrs. 
Peary's  shoulders  and  defrayed  the  lion's  share  of  the 
expense  of  sending  a  ship  north  in  1895.  During 
seven  )ears  I  have  strained  every  energy,  and  devoted 
every  dollar  I  possessed  to  my  Arctic  efforts,  and  dur- 
ing more  than  half  that  time  I  have  kept  the  Stars 
and  Stripes  waving  within  the  Arctic  Circle. 

So  unreservedly  have  the  slender  fortunes  of  Mrs. 
Peary  and  myself;  my  earnings  from  lectures,  and 
letters  to  newspapers  and  magazines ;  receipts  from 
transportation  of  scientific  parties  to  Greenland,  etc., 
been  devoted  to  the  work  in  which  I  am  interested, 
that  I  am  to-day  several  thousand  dollars  in  debt.  I 
do  not  say  this  in  a  plaintive  way,  but  as  a  simple  state- 
ment of  facts  which  it  is  only  just  should  be  known. 

My  comprehensive  scheme  for  work  in  Greenland, 
as  first  outlined  by  me  in  1886,  based  upon  the  utili- 
sation of  the  Inland  Ice  for  overland  sledge  journeys, 
and  my  subsequent  development  and  execution,  in 
actual  practice,  of  methods,  means,  and  details,  just- 
ify me,  I  think,  in  claiming  to  have  originated  a  new 
departure  in  Arctic  work.  Since  my  origination  of 
that  departure,  Nansen  has  crossed  Greenland;  Con- 
way has  crossed  Spitzbergen  ;  and  if  our  present  idea 
of  conditions  in  the  Antartic  be  correct,  it  is  entirely 
within  the  possibilities,  that  the  conqueror  of  the 
South  Pole  will  achieve  success  by  adopting  my 
methods  and  equipment.  My  long  sledge  journey 
across  the  ice-cap  in  1892  was  a  typical  illustration  of 
my  ideas.  It  presents  my  insistent  features:  the  In- 
land Ice  for  a  road,  dogs  for  traction,  a  party  of  two. 

I  can  claim  to  be  the  orieinator  of  the  idea  of  utilis- 
ing  the  dogs  themselves  as  dog  food.  In  the  1891-92 
Expedition,  for  the  first  time  in  Arctic  work  did  a  party 
start  out  with   the  carefully  considered   intention   of 


Iviii  Introduction 

utilising  a  large  portion  of  the  dogs  for  dog  food,  thus 
enabling  the  original  load  of  provisions  to  last  for  a 
much  longer  time.  Only  by  some  such  device  as  this 
was  the  proposed  march  practicable,  and  results  proved 
the  utter  soundness  of  the  principle. 

Nansen,  who,  while  preparing  for  his  recent  North 
Polar  Expedition,  was  acquainted  with  the  details  and 
methods  of  my  ice-cap  journey  of  1891-92,  through  his 
countryman  Astrijp,  my  companion  on  that  journey, 
was  quick  to  see  the  advantage  of  this,  and  by  adopt- 
ing it,  was  enabled,  in  his  magnificent  attack  upon  the 
Pole,  to  keep  his  dogs  in  the  field  for  three  months 
on  an  original  one  month's  rations. 

The  maximum  value  of  this  equation  would  be,  that 
the  two  men  would  subsist  during  the  last  four  or  five 
days  of  their  return  march  upon  the  flesh  of  their 
last  dog,  he  previously  having  eaten  all  his  comrades. 
This  maximum  value  was  nearly  reached  in  my  1895 
journey.  Previous  to  this  the  fundamental  principle 
of  Arctic  sledging  was,  that  overland  travelling  was 
impracticable,  and  that  the  sea  ice  along  and  outside 
of  an  Arctic  coast  offered  the  only  possible  highway. 

In  my  various  Expeditions  I  have  introduced  for 
the  first  time,  and  determined  the  feasibility  of,  sev- 
eral new  features  of  pronounced  value  to  the  Arctic 
explorer,  as  the  design  for  winter  quarters,  the  use 
of  the  odometer,  barograph,  and  thermograph,  the 
discarding  of  the  hitherto  supposedly  indispensable 
sleeping-bag. 

The  detailed  knowledge  of  the  Smith-Sound  re- 
gion obtained  by  me  has  enabled  me  to  point  out  to 
various  scientists  the  localities  most  suitable  for  their 
specialties  ;  has  permitted  one  of  the  first  glacialists 
of  the  country  (Prof.  T.  C.  Chamberlin)  to  reap,  in  a 
single  season,  a  harvest  of  information  and  original 
material  in  his  special  field,  which,  had  he  gone  blindly 


Introduction  lix 

to  the  country,  he  could  not  have  obtained  in  two  or 
three  years  ;  and  has  more  than  doubled  the  amount 
of  scientific  material  and  information  from  the  Arctic 
regions,  in  the  museums  of  this  country. 

There  is  also  a  phase  of  my  work  which  has  a 
deeply  human  interest,  and  that  is,  its  connection 
with,  and  effect  upon,  the  very  small  but  extremely 
interesting  tribe,  or  perhaps  I  might  more  properly 
say  family,  of  the  human  race, — the  little  community 
of  Eskimos,  the  most  northerly  known  individuals  of 
the  human  race,  numbering  but  two  hundred  and 
fifty-three,  living  at,  and  north  of,  Cape  York,  com- 
pletely isolated  from  all  the  rest  of  mankind  by  im- 
passable icy  barriers. 

The  effect  of  my  Expeditions  upon  those  children 
of  the  North  has  been  to  raise  the  entire  tribe  to  a 
condition  of  affluence.  The  difference  between  their 
condition  five  years  ago,  and  to-day,  can  perhaps  be 
best  illustrated  by  imagining  the  case  of  a  community 
or  village  of  farm-  or  day-labourers  working  at  a 
dollar  and  a  quarter  a  day,  and  possessing  nothing 
but  their  wages  ;  and  then  suppose  each  member  of 
this  community  to  have  given  him  a  furnished  house, 
and  lot,  and  a  ten-thousand-dollar  bank  account. 
Seven  years  ago,  many  a  man  in  this  tribe  possessed 
no  knife,  and  many  a  woman  no  needle.  Few  of  the 
men  possessed  kayaks,  or  skin  canoes  ;  and  he  was 
indeed  well  off  who  had  a  spear-  or  harpoon-shaft 
made  of  a  single  piece  of  wood.  To-day,  men  and 
women  are  amply  supplied  with  knives  and  needles  ; 
every  adult  man  and  half-grown  bo)'  has  his  canoe  ; 
most  of  the  men  have  guns  ;  and  every  hunter  is  sup- 
plied with  the  best  of  wood  for  his  lance,  his  har- 
poon, his  seal-spear,  and  his  sledge.  The  effect  of 
these  improvements  in  their  weapons  has  shown  itself 
at  once  in  an  improved  condition  of  the  tribe,  result- 


Ix  Introduction 

ine  from  the  s^reat  increase  in  the  eftectiveness  of  the 
hunters.  The  people  are  better  clothed,  they  can  sup- 
port a  larger  number  of  dogs  (their  only  domestic 
animal),  and,  as  a  result  of  their  more  ample  nourish- 
ment, and  consequent  greater  ability  to  Avithstand  the 
constant  hardships  of  their  life,  the  death-rate  has 
decreased,  and  the  birth-rate  perceptibly  increased, 
within  the  past  six  years. 

I  feel  also  that  lam  justified  in  thinking  that  I  am 
largely,  if  not  almost  entirely,  responsible  for  the  pres- 
ent renaissance  of  Arctic  interest,  which,  started  by 
my  Expedition  of  1891-92,  is  still  increasing  in  vol- 
ume and  intensity. 

Other  things  which  my  work  has  established  are : 
that  long  sledge  journeys  may  be  undertaken  with 
safety  even  in  the  Arctic  night ;  that  white  men  can 
remain  in  high  latitudes  for  long  periods  without  fear 
of  that  dread  of  Arctic  explorers,  scurvy  ;  that  very 
small  parties  are  the  only  ones  suited  for  effective 
work  in  the  Arctic  regions ;  that  the  work  of  north- 
ern exploration  can  be  prosecuted  upon  an  econom- 
ical basis,  and  that  it  can  be  done  without  loss  of  life. 

The  work,  of  which  the  following  pages  form  the 
narrative,  has  been  from  the  first  persistently  prose- 
cuted on  definite  and  consistent  lines  ;  and  now  that 
the  capabilities  of  the  overland  method  have  been 
practically  exhausted  as  far  as  Northern  Greenland  is 
concerned,  the  invaluable  experience  gained  in  the 
past  is  to  be  concentrated  upon  an  equally  persistent 
effort,  on  equally  definite  and  consistent  lines,  to  solve 
a  problem  which,  unsolved,  and  to  chart  a  portion  of 
the  earth's  surface  which,  uncharted,  are  a  reproach  to 
our  civilisation  and  manhood. 

»  *  «■  *  *  * 

It  seems  an  appropriate  place  here  to  devote  a 
little  space  to  the  general  subject  of  sledge  equip- 


Introduction  Ixi 

ment.  It  is  unnecessary  to  say  that  no  time  spent  in 
devising  ways  of  perfecting  the  equipment  for  an 
Arctic  sledge  journey,  can  be  regarded  as  wasted. 
His  equipment  is  the  explorer's  machinery  and  tools. 
Upon  its  efficiency  depends  the  amount  of  work  done, 
and  upon  its  smooth  fitness  for  its  varied  purposes 
depend  the  comfort  and  even  safety  of  himself  and 
his  men.  The  first  trreat  desideratum  in  each  item 
is  non-liability  to  damage.  Conditions  in  the  field 
are  invariably  hostile  to  the  work  of  repairs,  and  a 
party  cannot  load  itself  down  with  tools  and  materials 
for  such  repairs.  The  next  desideratum  is  lightness. 
The  transporting  efficiency  of  any  given  party  will  be 
a  certain  amount,  made  up  of  provisions  and  equip- 
ment ;  and  for  every  pound  that  the  equipment  can  be 
lightened,  an  additional  pound  of  food  can  be  carried, 
thus  insuring  an  additional  amount  of  travel. 

Facile  priuccps  in  importance  of  all  the  items  of 
equipment  stands  the  sledge.  Upon  it  everything 
else  depends.  It  must  combine  in  the  highest  degree 
the  qualities  of  lightness,  strength,  and  easy  traction. 
Every  detail  is  of  the  utmost  importance,  and  appar- 
ently slight  changes  may  affect  the  effectiveness  of 
the  sledge,  as  decisively  as  a  change  in  a  ship's  lines 
affects  her  speed.  The  construction  of  a  sledge  for 
any  particular  class  of  work,  simple  as  it  seems,  is 
something  that  can  be  properly  done  only  after  long 
experience,  and  the  art  of  getting  the  most  out  of 
the  sledge  with  the  least  expenditure  of  force  after 
it  is  constructed,  also  requires  much  experience. 

The  oeneral  character  of  the  Greenland  Inland 
Ice  is  such  as  to  permit  a  very  decided  gain  in  light- 
ness of  sledges  over  those  for  sea-ice  work,  yet  many 
portions  of  the  ice-cap,  where  its  surface  has  been 
carved  into  sharp-edged,  marble-like  sastrugi  by  the 
furious   winds,    try   the    strength    and    endurance   of 


Ixii  Introduction 

sledges  to  the  utmost.  The  main  feature  in  which 
sledges  for  use  on  the  ice-cap  must  differ  from  those 
for  use  at  sea-level,  is  the  broad  flat  runner  necessary 
to  keep  them  from  sinking  into  the  generally  prevail- 
ing deep,  soft  snow. 

My  previous  experience  in  1886,  1891,  1892,  1893, 
and  1 894,  in  the  construction  and  use  of  sledges,  had  left 
me  with  very  clear  and  definite  ideas  as  to  what  things 
were  and  what  were  not  essential  in  a  sledge,  and 
when  I  began  making  the  drawings  for  the  sledges 
for  the  forlorn-hope  journey  of  the  spring  of  1895,  I 
felt  that  I  knew  what  I  wanted.  Results  justified 
this  feeling. 

Next  after  the  sledges,  the  item  of  suitable  clothing 
is  one  of  the  greatest  importance  to  the  Arctic  ex- 
plorer, and  is  one  in  regard  to  which  there  is  great 
diversity  of  opinion  among  various  Arctic  authorities. 
Schwatka  was  in  favour  of  reindeer  clothing  exclus- 
ively, while  Greely  is  not  a  believer  in  fur  clothing. 
The  latter's  experience,  however,  seems  to  have 
been  confined  to  sealskin  garments,  which  are  not 
considered  by  the  natives  to  possess  any  warmth. 
My  own  experience  convinces  me  that  fur  clothing 
is  absolutely  essential  in  Arctic  work,  and  that  the 
less  woollen  and  more  fur  clothing  one  wears,  as- 
suming that  it  is  properly  made,  and  that  the 
wearer  knows  how  to  wear  it,  the  more  comfortable 
will  the  wearer  be.  Particularly  is  this  the  case  in 
Inland-Ice  travel,  where  the  penetrating  quality  of 
the  wind  is  far  in  excess  of  what  it  is  at  sea-level. 
Nothing  but  fur  and  the  impervious  integument  of 
animal  skin  will  protect  one  from  this  wind,  and  the 
traveller  who  goes  upon  the  ice-cap  without  fur 
clothinof,  does  so  either  from  ignorance  or  because 
he  is  reckless  of  draughts  upon  his  vital  force  ;  and 
he  is   likely  seriously  to   regret  his  over-confidence. 


Introduction  Ixiii 

In  our  suits, — an  evolution  from  my  previous  experi- 
ence,—  we  were  comfortable  in  all  temperatures 
between  -60°  F.  and  +50°  F.,  under  all  conditions  of 
activity,  from  sleeping  in  a  tent,  to  snow-shoeing  in 
deep  snow  at  the  end  of  a  drag  rope. 

A  tent  has  always  been  regarded  as  an  essential 
item  in  the  equipment  of  an  Arctic  sledge-party,  and 
though  the  use  of  snow  igloos  has  been  advocated  by 
some  authorities,  these  will  never  be  practicable  for 
a  party  unaccompanied  by  natives.  In  my  journeys 
of  1886  and  1892  on  the  ice-cap,  I  had  no  tent,  and  the 
experience  of  those  trips  gave  me  no  reason  to  con- 
sider the  tent  other  than  I  had  always  done — a  super- 
fluous lu.xury.  In  pleasant  weather,  the  lee  of  the 
sledge  ;  in  storms,  a  piece  of  canvas  kept  up  at  one 
end  by  snow-shoes  stuck  in  the  snow,  or  thrown  over 
three  low  snow  walls  and  weighted  down  by  the  sledge, 
had  been  sufficient. 

In  planning  for  the  campaign  of  1894,  I  did  not 
therefore  include  a  tent  in  the  list,  though  a  tent 
which  had  been  used  during  the  fall  work,  and  left 
on  the  ice-cap  during  the  winter,  was  utilised  when 
we  reached  the  cache,  and  taken  along  from  there, 
till  I  could  see  whether  it  was  essential  or  not.  The 
equinoctial  storm  decided  this  in  the  affirmative,  and 
showed  me  that  for  work  on  the  ice-cap  in  early 
spring  a  tent  is  a  necessity.  It  was  therefore  used 
throughout  this  journey. 

When  I  took  up  the  study  of  a  tent  for  use  in  the 
1895  campaign,  I  had  two  objects  in  view  :  first,  to 
reduce  the  size  and  weight  to  the  minimum  consistent 
with  comfort  ;  and  second,  to  carry  out  an  idea  which 
had  occurred  to  me  in  1891,  of  having  the  tent 
attached  permanently  to  a  specially  adapted  sledge. 
Both  these  objects  were  successfully  accomplished, 
and  the  tent,  as  finally  constructed,  consisting  of  tent. 


Ixiv  Introduction 

floor,  and  wind-guard  for  entrance,  weighed  thirteen 
pounds  and  met  all  the  requirements  fully. 

While  the  navigator  of  the  ocean  uses  the  com- 
pass, the  sextant,  and  the  chronometer,  1  have  sub- 
stituted, in  navigating  the  "Great  Ice,"  the  odometer 
for  the  loe  line  and  the  aneroid  for  the  soundinir- 
lead.  From  the  indications  of  the  latter,  it  is  possi- 
ble to  change  the  course,  so  as  to  give  the  dogs  less 
work,  and  it  also  gives  warning,  in  thick  weather, 
of  approach  to  the  dreaded  land,  between  which  and 
the  serene,  smooth  heights  of  the  interior  ice-cap,  lie 
dangerous  slopes  of  bare  blue  ice,  yawning  crevasses, 
sudden  and  furious  squalls,  and  frequent  and  violent 
storms. 

My  instrumental  outfit  for  the  journey  comprised  a 
transit,  a  sextant  and  artificial  horizon,  three  chrono- 
meters, several  compasses,  two  odometers,  three  ane- 
roids, several  thermometers,  one  pair  of  binoculars, 
and  a  camera. 

The  transit,  a  small  Traveller's  by  Fauth  &  Co.,  of 
Washington,  D.  C,  was  used  in  preference  to  the 
sextant  for  ice-cap  observations,  as  with  it  latitude, 
longitude,  and  compass  variation  may  all  be  deter- 
mined, near  enough  for  all  practical  purposes,  by  ob- 
servations extending  over  two  or  three  hours.  The 
sextant  and  artificial  horizon  were  taken  simply  as  a 
reserve,  for  use  in  case  of  accident  to  the  transit. 

Chronometers  were  pocket-size,  furnished  by  the 
E.  Howard  Watch  Company,  of  Boston.  They  were 
open-faced  stem-winders  enclosed  in  a  single  aluminum 
case,'  made  from  a  suggestion  by  me,  and  were  carried 
during  the  journey  suspended  over  my  chest,  inside 
of  my  clothing,  by  a  cord  around  my  neck.       These 

'  The  advantages  of  this  case  were  a  very  considerable  saving  of  weight,  the 
chronometers  were  subjected  to  the  same  temperature,  could  be  handled  as 
one,  and  being  side  by  side,  any  idiosyncrasies  of  either  could  be  easily  and  im- 
mediately detected  by  comparison  with  tlie  otlier  two. 


Introduction  Ixv 

chronometers  were  zr;y  satisfactory,  light,  easily 
read,  and  kept  excellent  time. 

Compasses  were  a  four-inch  liquid  boat-compass, 
and  several  dry  cards,  pocket-size,  in  hunting-cases. 
The  pocket-compasses  were  used  in  the  hand  for  set- 
ting the  course  when  I  was  walking  in  advance  of  the 
party.  The  boat-compass  was  used  just  as  it  would 
be  at  sea,  lashed  upon  the  top  of  my  sledge,  through- 
out the  first  three  hundred  miles  of  the  northward 
journey,  when  I  was  obliged  to  keep  the  course  and 
drive  a  team  of  ten  dogs.  On  the  return,  lashed 
upon  a  pair  of  ski  and  pushed  in  front  of  me,  it  en- 
abled us  to  march  during  days  of  fog,  when  without 
it  advance  would  have  been  a  simple  impossibility. 

The  odometer  outfit  consisted  of  one  wheel  and 
two  reoristerinor  mechanisms. 

My  reconnaissance  of  the  Inland  Ice,  in  1886,  sug- 
gested to  me  that  the  odometer  was  a  practical  item, 
in  the  instrumental  equipment  of  the  navigator  of  the 
"Great  Ice."  The  surface  traversed  by  me  during 
that  reconnaissance  was  everywhere,  except  at  the  ex- 
treme edge  of  the  ice-cap,  entirely  suitable  for  the 
satisfactory  work  of  an  odometer  wheel,  and  the  use 
of  the  instrument  would  save  a  great  deal  of  annoy- 
ance and  arduous  work,  by  reducing  the  number  of 
necessary  solar  observations  ;  observations  which  the 
conditions  of  the  ice-cap  render,  under  the  most  favour- 
able conditions,  extremely  trying,  and  much  of  the 
time  impossible,  or  at  best  unsatisfactory.  The  al- 
most constant  wind  and  drift  make  the  use  of  the  arti- 
ficial horizon  very  difficult,  even  when  the  temperatures 
are  high  enough  not  to  affect  the  mercury  ;  and  the  same 
causes,  combined  with  the  varying  conditions  of  the 
snow  surface,  sometimes  extremely  hard,  again  very 
soft,  and  the  constant  vibrations  from  the  wind,  make 
the  use  of  the  transit  difficult. 


Ixvi  Introduction 

Refraction  and  atmospheric  vibration  are  at  all 
times  excessive  on  the  ice-cap,  and  the  extreme  bril- 
liancy of  the  sun,  even  through  the  special  glasses  of 
instruments  for  this  kind  of  work,  is  so  trying  to  eyes 
already  strained  to  their  utmost  by  the  unceasing 
glare  from  sky  and  snow,  day  and  night,  that  the  tak- 
ing of  an  observation  was  always  dreaded  by  me,  and 
usually  resulted  in  someone  else  being  obliged  to 
take  the  lead  the  next  day,  while  I  walked  with  band- 
aged eyes  beside  the  sledge. 

The  compass  and  odometer  would  supply  a  means 
of  obtaining  the  dead  reckoning  with  an  accuracy  to 
render  frequent  solar  observations  unnecessary,  and 
also  show  the  traveller  at  any  time  just  his  position 
and  what  speed  he  is  making. 

In  the  winter  of  1891  and  1892,  the  idea  was  put 
into  practical  shape,  and  during  the  ice-cap  journey 
of  1892,  an  odometer  wheel  was  used  for  the  first 
time  in  Arctic  work,  and  I  obtained  satisfactory  re- 
sults with  it.  Afterwards,  during  1893-94,  several 
wheels  were  constructed,  and  the  evolution  of  the 
odometer  for  Arctic  work  gradually  perfected,  until, 
when  the  matter  of  the  construction  of  a  wheel  for 
the  ice-cap  journey  of  1895  came  up,  1  was,  as  with 
the  sledges,  in  possession  of  very  definite  ideas  as  to 
what  would  and  what  would  not  prove  satisfactory,  and 
the  result  was  a  wheel  which  met  all  the  demands 
upon  it.' 

My  aneroids  were  beautiful  aluminum  instruments, 
three  inches  in  diameter,  reading  to  twelve  thousand 
feet.  Like  the  chronometers,  all  three  were  carried 
in  a  single  case,  which  permitted  convenient  compari- 
sons. 

'  This  wheel  stood  the  wear  and  tear  of  the  journey  to  Independence  Bay 
and  return,  without  requiring  repair  of  any  kind,  and,  1  believe,  cannot  be  im- 
proved upon  for  Inland-Ice  work,  except  in  as  far  as  a  wider  range  of  material 
to  select  from  would  permit  it  to  be  made  lighter. 


Introduction  Ixvii 

The  thermometers  were  all  of  Green's  usual  make  ; 
maximum  and  minimum  self-registering,  as  well  as 
plain  mercurial  and  spirit. 

Binoculars  were  Academic  Optiques  in  aluminum, 
very  light,  and  of  good  power  and  definition. 

Camera  was  a  specially  constructed  Eastman  Kodak 
No.  4,  with  a  capacity  of  250  negatives.  This  camera 
was  very  light,  strong,  and  in  every  way  satisfactory.' 

Norwegian  ski,  Indian  snow-shoes,  and  the  dark- 
est of  smoked-glass  goggles  for  the  eyes,  were  also 
important  items  of  the  equipment. 

It  seems  desirable  also  in  this  Introduction  to  at- 
tempt the  merest  outline  of  some  of  the  most  striking 
features  of  the  Sermiksoah,  or  "  Great  Ice," — the 
mighty  frozen  boss  of  Greenland,  the  Sahara  of  the 
North,  the  Hyperborean  Hades.  If  I  can  succeed  in 
conveying  to  the  reader  even  the  crudest  conception 
of  the  personality  of  this  "  Great  Ice  "  I  shall  be 
content. 

The  term  "  Inland  Ice,"  by  which  this  feature  is 
generally  known,  suggests  to  the  majority  of  persons 
erroneous  ideas.  The  surface  is  not  ice,  but  a  com- 
pacted snow.  Elevated  as  the  entire  interior  is,  to  a 
height  of  from  4000  to  9000  feet  above  the  sea-level, 
mountains  of  the  coast  which  would  be  visible  to  the 
sailor  at  a  distance  of  sixty  to  eighty  miles,  disappear 
beneath  the  landward  convexity  of  the  ice-cap  by  the 
time  the  traveller  has  penetrated  fifteen  or  twenty 
miles  into  the  interior,  and  then  he  may  travel  for 
days  and  weeks  with  no  break  whatever  in  the  contin- 
uity of  the  sharp  steel-blue  line  of  the  horizon. 

Questions  as  to  the  characteristics  of  this  unique 

'  All  my  photographic  work,  from  which  the  illustrations  in  this  narrative 
are  taken,  was  done  with  the  Eastman  Kodaks,  and  (with  very  few  exceptions) 
the  Eastman  films.     The  developing  was  done  by  Rau  of  Philadelphia. 


Ixviii  Introduction 

terrestrial  feature,  among  others,  whether  this  enor- 
mous deposit  of  snow  and  ice  is  increasing  or  decreas- 
ing, or  remaining  practically  stationary,  are  of  special 
interest  to  geologists  and  glacialists. 

It  might  seem  at  first  thought  that  the  "  Great  Ice  " 
must  be  constantly  increasing  in  depth,  but  there  are 
causes  at  work  inimical  to  such  increase,  and  only 
investigations  carried  on  through  a  period  of  years 
can  determine  whether  the  resultant  of  these  causes 
is  greater  or  less  than,  or  just  balances,  the  annual 
precipitation. 

Principal  among  these  causes  are  the  glaciers,  the 
wind,  melting,  and  evaporation.  The  former,  which 
protrude  through  every  deep  valley  in  the  coast 
mountains,  discharge  into  the  sea  during  the  year  an 
enormous  bulk  of  ice  from  the  lower  strata  of  the 
"  Great  Ice  "  of  the  interior,  in  the  shape  of  numerous 
fleets  of  icebergs. 

A  very  important  peculiarity  of  the  ice-cap  is  the 
intensity  of  the  light.  My  journeys  across  the  "  Great 
Ice"  have  been  made  during  the  Arctic  summer — 
that  is,  during  the  time  that  the  sun  is  constantly  above 
the  horizon  throughout  the  twenty-four  hours,  for  a 
period  of  some  four  months.  The  Arctic  sun  in  clear 
weather  is  as  brilliant  as  the  sun  of  any  Southern  lati- 
tude, and  when  this  brilliancy  is  increased  by  reflec- 
tion from  an  interminable,  and  absolutely  unrelieved, 
glistening  white  surface  of  snow,  lifted  into  the  highly 
rarefied  and  pure  upper  strata  of  the  Arctic  atmo- 
sphere, the  intensity  of  light  is  something  that  can  be 
realised  only  by  one  who  has  actually  experienced  it. 
The  pungent  quality  of  this  blinding  glare  is  such 
that  the  strongest  eye  can  endure  it  unaided  only  for 
a  few  hours.  A  man  placed  in  the  centre  of  the 
"  Great  Ice,"  in  mid-summer,  with  no  means  of  protect- 
ing his  eyes,  would  be  as  completely  helpless  at  the 


Introduction  Ixix 

end  of  a  day  as  a  blind  kitten.  The  traveller  upon 
the  "  Great  Ice  "  must  keep  his  eyes  constantly  pro- 
tected by  goggles  of  heavy  smoked  glass,  and  even 
with  this  we  frequently,  when  in  camp  and  trying  to 
sleep,  were  obliged  to  protect  our  eyes  still  further 
by  a  strip  of  fur  tied  across  them  to  exclude  the  light 
which  would  otherwise  penetrate  the  closed  lids. 

Sometimes,  though  rarely,  cloud  shadows  drift 
across  the  white  expanse,  but  usually  the  cloud  phe- 
nomena are  the  heavy  prophecies  or  actualities  of 
furious  storms  veiling  the  entire  sky,  or  the  dainty 
transparent  cirrus  feathers.  In  clear  weather,  the 
traveller  upon  this  white  waste  sees  but  the  snow,  the 
sky,  the  sun.  In  cloudy  weather,  even  these  disap- 
pear. Many  a  time  I  have  found  myself  in  such 
weather  travelling  in  grey  space,  feeling  the  snow 
beneath  my  snow-shoes  but  unable  to  see  it.  No  sun, 
no  sky,  no  snow,  no  horizon — absolutely  nothing  that 
the  eye  could  rest  upon.  Zenith  and  nadir  alike, 
an  intangible  grey  nothingness.  My  feet  and  snow- 
shoes  were  sharp  and  clear  as  silhouettes,  and  I  was 
sensible  of  contact  with  the  snow  at  every  step,  yet 
as  far  as  my  eyes  gave  me  evidence  to  the  contrary, 
I  was  walking  upon  nothing.  The  space  between 
my  snow-shoes  was  equally  as  light  as  the  zenith. 
The  opaque  light  which  filled  the  sphere  of  vision 
might  come  from  below  as  well  as  above.  Never 
shall  I  forget,  though  I  cannot  describe,  the  impres- 
sions made  by  these  surroundings.  The  strain,  both 
physical  and  mental,  of  this  blindness  with  wide-open 
eyes  was  such  that  after  a  time  I  would  be  obliged 
to  stop  until  the  passing  of  the  fog,  or  formation  of 
higher  clouds,  gave  me  something  to  keep  the  course 

The  wind  is  never  Quiescent  on   the  "  Great  Ice.' 

1 

Day  and  night,  summer  and  winter,  year  in  and  year 


Ixx  Introduction 

out,  it  is  sweeping  down,  sometimes  with  greater, 
sometimes  with  less  velocity,  from  the  frozen  heart  of 
the  "Great  Ice,"  bearing  with  it  a  burden  of  snow 
and  following  the  most  direct  slope  to  the  land,  which 
once  reached  it  goes  rushing  over  the  mountain  sum- 
mits, some  of  it  sinking  in  whirlpools  and  eddies  into 
the  valleys,  but  much  of  it  being  carried  on  to  the 
coast-cliffs,  over  which  it  goes  swirling  into  the  sea  or 
onto  the  sea  ice.  During  gentle  breezes  this  drift  is 
of  almost  impalpable  fineness,  and  extends  but  a  foot 
or  two  above  the  surface.  As  the  wind  increases  in 
force,  the  particles  of  snow  become  coarser  and  the 
depth  of  the  current  of  flying  snow  increases  until,  in 
the  savage  blizzards  of  the  frozen  Sahara,  this  drift 
becomes  a  roaring,  hissing,  blinding,  suffocating  Niag- 
ara of  snow,  rising  hundreds  of  feet  into  the  air  ;  a 
drift  which  almost  instantly  buries  any  quiescent  ob- 
ject, and  in  which  it  is  almost  impossible  for  the 
traveller  to  breathe.  This  drifting  snow  is  as  pene- 
trating as  water.  When  the  depth  of  the  drift  is  not 
in  excess  of  the  height  of  the  knee,  its  surface  is  as 
tangible,  and  almost  as  sharply  defined,  as  that  of  a 
sheet  of  water,  and  its  incessant  dizzy  rush  and  strid- 
ent sibilation  become,  when  long  contiued,  as  mad- 
dening as  the  drop,  drop,  drop  of  water  on  the  victim's 
head  in  the  old  torture-rooms. 

There  is  no  doubt  in  my  mind  but  that  in  the 
middle  of  the  Arctic  night,  in  the  centre  of  this  "  Great 
Ice,"  lifted  a  mile  and  a  half  or  two  miles  into  the 
frozen  air  that  sweeps  around  the  pole,  separated 
from  any  possible  effect  from  the  earth's  radiated 
heat  by  a  blanket  of  ice  and  snow  a  mile  or  more  in 
thickness,  and  distant  fully  two  hundred  and  fifty 
miles  from  the  possible  ameliorating  effect  of  the 
Arctic  seas,  there  is  to  be  found  the  fiercest  degree 
of  cold  of  any  spot  upon  the  surface  of  the  globe. 


Introduction  Ixxi 

The  characteristics  of  such  portions  of  the  Inland 
Ice  as  came  under  my  personal  observation,  in  1886, 
in  from  the  head  of  Disco  Bay,  may  be  stated  as  fol- 
lows. The  coast-line  shows  a  great  diversity  of  feat- 
ures, dependent  upon  the  altitude,  the  season,  and 
the  elevation  and  configuration  of  the  adjacent  mount- 
ains. Wherever  the  ice  projects  down  a  valley 
in  a  long  tongue  or  stream,  the  edges  contract  and 
shrink  away  from  the  warmer  rocks  on  each  side, 
leaving  a  deep  caiion  between,  usually  occupied  by  a 
glacier  stream  ;  and  the  upper  surface,  disintegrated 
by  the  reflected  heat  from  the  mountains  above,  and 
shattered  by  the  daily  change  of  temperature  more 
perhaps  than  by  the  forward  flow,  presents  a  chaotic 
labyrinth  of  crevasses,  gullies,  and  ragged  pinnacles, 
increasing  in  magnitude  in  direct  proportion  to  the 
length  of  the  tongue  and  its  approach  to  the  sea-level. 
Smaller  tongues  or  teats,  rounding  down  into  shallow 
indentations  in  the  crest  of  the  mountain  dam,  are 
apt  to  have  only  their  tips  ragged  and  their  upper 
surfaces  covered  with  a  network  of  narrow  crevasses. 
Higher  up,  along  the  unbroken  portions  of  the  dam, 
where  the  rocks  have  a  southern  exposure  or  rise 
much  above  the  ice,  there  is  apt  to  be  a  deep  caiion 
between  the  ice  and  the  rocks.  The  bottom  of  the 
canon  is  almost  invariably  occupied  by  water.  Where 
there  are  no  adjacent  rocks  higher  than  the  ice  to 
push  it  back  with  their  reflected  heat,  the  ice  will 
reach  down  upon  the  rocks  in  a  dome-like  slope. 
Frequently  drifts  of  fine  hard  snow  extend  like  cause- 
ways from  ice  to  rock,  through  the  bases  of  which  the 
littoral  glacier  streams  tunnel  a  passage.  Still  farther 
up,  at  the  very  crest  of  the  dam,  the  ice  lies  smoothly 
against  the  rocks.  As  to  the  features  of  the  interior 
beyond  the  coast-line,  the  surface  of  the  "ice-blink" 
near  the  marsfin   is  a  succession   of    rounded    hum- 


Ix.xii  Introduction 

mocks,  steepest  and  highest  on  their  landward  sides, 
wliich  are  sometimes  precipitous.  Farther  in,  these 
hummocks  merge  into  long  tiat  swells,  which  in  turn 
decrease  in  height  towards  the  interior,  until  at  last 
a  flat,  gently  rising  plain  is  reached,  which  becomes 
ultimately  level. 

In  passing  from  the  margin  of  the  "ice-blink"  to 
the  remote  interior,  from  one  to  five  distinct  zones 
may  be  noted,  the  number  and  width  varying  with 
the  season,  the  latitude,  and  the  elevation.  In  win- 
ter the  entire  surface  is  undoubtedly  covered  with  a 
deep  unbroken  layer  of  fine  dry  snow.  Late  in  the 
spring,  the  warmth  of  the  sun  at  mid-day  softens  the 
surface  of  the  snow  along  the  low  borders  of  the  ice, 
and  this  freezes  at  night,  forming  a  light  crust. 
Gradually  this  crust  extends  up  the  interior,  and  with 
the  advance  of  the  season,  the  snow  along  the  bor- 
ders of  the  "  ice-blink"  becomes  saturated  with  water. 
A  little  later,  this  zone  of  slush  follows  the  zone  of 
crust  into  the  interior,  the  snow  along  the  borders  of 
the  "  ice-blink  "  melts  entirely,  forming  pools  in  the 
depressions,  and  streams  which  cut  deep  gullies  in 
the  ice  ;  water  cavities  form  ;  old  crevasses  open,  and 
new  ones  appear.  This  zone  rapidly  widens  and  ex- 
tends into  the  interior  in  the  footsteps  of  the  others, 
and  behind  it  the  immediate  border  of  the  ice  gets 
ragged  and  soiled,  pebbles,  boulders,  and  moraines 
crop  out  of  its  melting  surface,  and  by  the  end  of  the 
Arctic  summer  it  is  eaten  and  shattered  by  the  heat, 
and  eroded  by  the  streams,  into  impassable  roughness. 

In  my  journey  of  1891,  across  the  ice-cap  of  North- 
ern Greenland,  on  the  upward  march,  in  my  effort 
not  to  make  any  more  easting  than  was  absolutely 
necessary,  I  was  repeatedly  turned  from  my  course 
by  the  unexpected  penetration  of  the  glacier  basins 
of  the  great  fjords  of  the  north-west  coast  into  the 


Introduction  Ixxiii 

interior,  and  in  this  way  experienced  much  delay  and 
annoyance.  On  my  return  the  same  year,  I  went 
well  into  the  interior  to  avoid  these  obstacles.  In 
this  I  succeeded.  With  two  routes  having  the  same 
starting  and  objective  points,  and  enclosing  between 
them  an  elongated  elliptical  area,  it  was  evident  that 
an  intermediate  route  on  my  next  journey  would  not 
only  be  somewhat  shorter,  but  would  avoid  the  cre- 
vasses and  steep  slopes  of  the  one  route,  and  the 
deep  soft  snow  of  the  other.  This  I  found  to  be  the 
fact,  and  after  the  experience  of  the  upward  journey 
I  was  able  to  modify  the  return  route  still  more,  with 
a  saving  of  a  few  miles  and  an  improvement  in  the 
travelling.  A  comparison  of  the  four  profiles  between 
Whale  Sound  and  Independence  Bay  is  very  interest- 
ing, and  brings  out  the  relief  of  the  "  Great  Ice  "  in  a 
very  clear  manner,  showing  that  it  is  really  a  very 
much  flattened  mountain  system  in  ice,  with  its  main 
backbone,  its  radiant  spurs,  and  its  intermediate 
valleys. 

The  broad  zone  of  wastage  which  I  found  so  pro- 
nounced at  the  head  of  Disco  Bay  is  very  narrow, 
and  even  in  places  lacking  entirely,  along  the  edge  of 
the  ice-cap  in  Northern  Greenland.  The  nunataks 
also,  so  common  in  South  Greenland,  occur  in  North- 
ern Greenland,  as  far  as  my  observations  go,  only  in 
the  actual  current  of  the  glaciers  and  the  lower  por- 
tion of  their  basins,  and  never  at  any  distance  from 
the  coastal  land  ribbon. 

My  first  journey  was  near  enough  to  the  edge  of  the 
ice  to  cross  the  great  basins  of  exudation,  if  I  may  use 
the  term,  and  their  intermediate  divides,  and  the  pro- 
file shows  a  succession  of  ups  and  downs  like  those  of 
a  railroad  located  along  the  foothills  of  a  mountain 
system.  The  profile  of  the  return  journey  of  the 
same  year  shows  but  one  depression,  and  that  in  the 


Ixxiv  Introduction 

Humboldt  basin.  The  profiles  of  the  two  journeys 
of  1894  are  ideal  in  that  they  show  a  rapid  ascent  from 
Bowdoin  Bay  to  the  surface  of  the  central  ice  mass, 
and  then  a  gradual  gradient  along  the  western  slope 
of  the  continental  divide  till  the  summit  is  reached, 
near  Independence  Bay,  when  the  descent  is  rapid  to 
the  edge  of  the  ice. 

That  the  crest  of  the  Greenland  continental  ice  di- 
vide is  east  of  the  country's  median  line  there  can  be 
no  doubt.  Where  it  is  crossed  on  the  way  to  Inde- 
pendence Bay,  it  is  trending  away  to  the  north-west 
and  rapidly  decreasing  in  altitude  to  lose  itself  in  the 
landward  slopes  of  the  "Great  Ice"  near  the  con- 
vergence of  Victoria  Inlet  and  the  north-west  coast. 
From  this  continental  divide  extend  spurs  into  the 
Cape  York  Peninsula,  Prudhoe  Land,  Washington 
Land,  Hall  Land,  etc.,  and  between  these  divides 
are  the  enormous  basins  which  feed  the  glaciers  of 
Melville  Bay,  Inglefield  Gulf,  Kane  Basin,  Petermann 
and  Sherard-Osborne  Fjords. 

The  experienced  navigator  of  the  "  Great  Ice  "  has, 
like  his  brother  of  the  sea,  the  means  of  avoiding  or 
overcoming  adverse  conditions.  If  he  has  come  in 
too  close  proximity  to  the  land,  i.e.,  the  edge  of  the 
ice,  and  finds  himself  among  the  rocks  and  breakers, 
i.e.,  crevasses  and  steep  blue  ice  slopes,  he  must  put 
to  sea  at  once,  i.e.,  swerve  into  the  interior.  If  when 
well  out  to  sea  he  encounters  continuous  adverse  winds 
and  currents  and  heavy  sea,  i.e.,  up  grade  and  deep 
soft  snow,  he  can  avoid  them  by  veering  toward  the 
shore,  when  he  will  at  once  reduce  the  grade,  and  in  a 
short  time  reach  hard  going. 

The  regularity  of  the  winds  of  the  "  Great  Ice  "  of 
Greenland,  as  I  have  found  them  during  an  actual  so- 
journ of  over  seven  months  upon  the  "  Great  Ice,"  and 
visits  to  it  of  greater  or  less  duration  in  every  month 


Introduction  Ixxv 

of  the  year,  is  phenomenal.  Except  during  atmo- 
spheric disturbances  of  unusual  magnitude,  which  cause 
storms  to  sweep  across  the  country  regardless  of  ordi- 
nary rules,  the  direction  of  the  wind  of  the  "  Great 
Ice  "  of  Greenland  is  invariably  radial  from  the  centre 
outward,  perpendicular  to  the  nearest  part  of  the  coast 
land  ribbon.  So  steady  is  this  wind  and  so  closely 
does  it  adhere  to  this  perpendicularity,  that  I  can  liken 
it  only  to  the  flow  of  a  sheet  of  water  descending  the 
slopes  of  the  "Great  Ice"  from  the  central  interior 
dome  to  the  coast.  The  direction  of  the  nearest  land 
is  always  easily  determinable  in  this  way  :  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  great  fjords  is  always  indicated  by  a  change 
in  the  wind's  direction  ;  and  the  crossing  of  a  divide, 
by  an  area  of  calm  or  variable  winds,  followed  by  winds 
in  the  opposite  direction,  independent  of  any  indica- 
tions of  the  barometer. 

The  opinion  was  advanced  by  me  immediately  on 
my  return  in  1892,  that  the  transporting  effect  of  the 
wind  upon  the  snow  of  the  ice-cap  must  be  counted 
as  one  of  the  most  potent  factors  in  preventing  the  in- 
crease in  height  of  the  ice-cap  ;  a  factor  equal  perhaps 
to  the  combined  effects  of  evaporation,  littoral  and 
sub-glacial  melting,  and  glacial  discharge.  This  opin- 
ion has  been  corroborated  and  greatly  strengthened 
by  my  later  observations.  When  it  is  remembered 
that  the  flow  of  the  atmosphere  from  the  cold  heights 
of  the  interior  ice-cap  to  the  lower  land  of  the  coast  is 
going  on  throughout  the  year  with  greater  or  less  in- 
tensity, and  that  a  fine  sheet  of  snow  is  being  thus 
carried  beyond  the  ice-cap  to  the  ice-free  land  at  every 
foot  of  the  periphery  of  the  ice-cap,  there  to  melt,  it 
will  perhaps  be  seen  that  the  above  assumption  is  not 
excessive.  I  feel  confident  that  an  investigation  of 
the  actual  amount  of  this  transfer  of  snow  by  the  wind 
is  well  worth  the  attention  of  all  glacialists. 


Ixwi  Introduction 

The  character  of  the  "  Great  Ice  "  is  such  as  to  make 
a  powerful  impression  upon  even  the  most  prosaic 
mind.  When  I  think  of  it  I  rarely  recall  the  hunger, 
the  cold,  the  killing  work,  the  disappointments  I  have 
experienced  upon  it.  Rather  do  I  think  of  it  in  its 
varying  phases,  as  one  of  the  sublimest  features  that 
earth  contains.  I  harbour  malice  against  it  for  but  one 
thing,  the  lives  of  my  dogs. 

-X-  *  *  *  *  * 

And  finally  a  few  words  in  regard  to  Arctic  Ex- 
ploration. P  rom  the  earliest  days,  when  men  dreamed 
of  the  ever-sunny  Eden  of  the  Hyperboreans  far  be- 
yond the  land  of  the  Antropophagi,  till  now,  the 
regfion  within  that  maeic  line  which  bounds  the  north- 
ern  disk  of  midnight  suns  and  noonday  nights, — the 
Arctic  Circle — has  exercised  a  strange  charm  over  men 
and  women  of  all  intellects,  all  ages,  all  conditions  of 
life. 

In  exploration,  as  in  business,  as  in  letters,  as  in 
invention,  conditions  are  entirely  different  now  from 
what  they  were  years  ago.  It  is  no  longer  possible 
for  the  confines  of  the  well-known  to  be  attained  by  a 
dash  either  mental  or  physical.  The  days  when  a 
Galileo  or  a  Columbus  could  in  a  bound  reach  and 
pass  beyond  the  narrow  circumference  of  the  world  of 
mind  or  matter  at  any  point  are  past.  Arctic  explor- 
ation must,  like  anything  else,  be  made  a  business 
and  carried  on  from  year  to  year,  profiting  by  each 
added  item  of  experience,  taking  advantage  of  every 
occurring  opportunity. 

The  two  great  popular  objections  to  Arctic  explora- 
tions seem  to  be  the  waste  of  money  connected  with 
it,  and  the  supposedly  excessive  loss  of  life.  It  would 
seem  from  the  emphatic  utterances  of  some  who  decry 
what  they  consider  a  waste  of  money  on  Arctic  work, 
that  they  are  under  the   impression  that  the  money 


Introduction  Ixxvii 

expended  upon  an  Arctic  expedition  is  taken  north  and 
buried  in  the  snow,  becoming  an  absolute  and  total 
loss.  It  seems  to  be  forgotten  that  the  supplies  and 
equipments  of  these  expeditions  are  purchased  and 
paid  for  at  home,  and  that  they  contribute  to  the  sup- 
port of  a  certain  number  of  people  for  a  certain  time, 
as  much  as  if  those  people  were  living  at  home. 

The  other  objection,  that  Arctic  work  means  too 
great  a  sacrifice  of  life,  loses  its  force  in  the  light  of 
actual  facts.  To  those  familiar  with  the  literature  of 
Arctic  explorations,  it  is  a  well-known  fact  that  the 
loss  of  life  in  this  field,  even  including  those  expedi- 
tions which  have  disappeared  utterly  and  completely  in 
the  savage  fastnesses  of  the  "White  North,"  amounts 
to  but  about  two  per  cent,  of  the  total  number  engaged 
in  the  work,  a  percentage  less  than  that  of  the  annual 
loss  of  life  among  the  fishermen  and  sailors  of  the 
British  Isles.  During  my  own  work  of  the  past 
eleven  years  but  one  life  has  been  lost,  and  that  was 
the  result  of  an  accident  in  no  way  connected  with 
the  work  itself,  an  accident  which  would  have  been 
likely  to  occur  in  the  Alps  or  in  any  of  our  own  wild 
mountainous  districts. 

My  experience  has  strongly  accentuated  ni)-  belief 
in  small  parties  for  Arctic  work.  The  results  obtained 
by  Graah,  Rae,  Hall,  Schwatka,  Greely,  and  others, 
were  obtained  by  parties  of  two  or  three.  Many  of 
the  sad  disasters,  which  form  a  part  of  Arctic  hi.s- 
tory,  would  have  been  avoided  had  the  parties  been 
small.  It  is  a  popular  fallacy  that  there  is  safety  in 
large  parties.  The  entire  animus  of  the  Arctic  regions 
is  against  such  parties,  and  in  the  event  of  their  being 
thrown,  either  temporarily  or  permanently,  upon  the 
resources  of  the  country  for  sustenance,  an  occurrence 
that  is  one  of  the  most  certain  of  Arctic  possibilities, 
the  members  of  such  large  parties  will  starve,  where 


Ixxviii  Introduction 

a  small  party  would  have  abundant  rations.  A  cow- 
ard also,  a  weakling,  or  an  insubordinate,  has  better 
opportunity  to  cause  demoralisation  in  a  large  than 
in  a  small  party.  In  the  Franklin  expedition  of  one 
hundred  and  thirty-eight,  not  one  lived  to  tell  the 
story  of  their  awful  final  days,  and  I  have  no 
doubt  that  the  utter  loss  of  that  expedition  was  due 
directly  to  its  size.  As  long  as  everything  goes  well, 
a  large  party  may  be  all  right,  but  in  the  hour  of  dis- 
aster or  serious  disappointment,  the  trouble  begins. 
Nothing  can  be  more  terrible  than  the  retreat  and 
struggle  for  life  with  a  large  party  under  the  fearful 
stress  of  the  Arctic. 

It  is  impossible  for  a  leader,  no  matter  how  able  he 
may  be,  to  fill  a  large  party,  as  he  can  a  small  one, 
with  his  own  courage  and  hopefulness.  Every  indi- 
vidual in  the  party  represents  a  drain  upon  the  vital 
magnetism  and  force  of  the  leader,  upon  whom  the 
safety  of  the  party  depends.  Up  to  a  certain  point 
his  example  is  contagious,  and  his  cheerfulness,  activ- 
ity, and  courage  are  reflected  in  every  member  of  the 
party  ;  but  when  day  after  day  of  arduous  struggle, 
of  cold,  of  hunger,  and  of  discouragement,  has  reduced 
the  strength,  both  physical  and  mental,  the  infusion 
of  fresh  courage  into  a  desponding  one  requires  as 
tangible  a  transfer  of  the  leader's  stamina  and  nerve- 
force,  as  the  filling  of  a  vessel  with  water  from  a  res- 
ervoir, and  the  reservoir  in  this  case  does  not  refill  as 
rapidly  as  under  normal  conditions. 

To  those  who,  in  the  absence  of  a  dollar-for-dollar 
return  for  every  effort,  ask,  "  Of  what  earthly  use  is 
Arctic  exploration  ?  "  I  might  answer  :  "  What  is  the 
use  of  yacht  races,  of  athletic  contests,  of  trials  of  en- 
gines, and  war-ships,  or  any  of  the  innumerable  tests 
that  have,  since  the  world  was  young,  been  man's  only 
means  of  determining    the   superiority  of  one  man, 


Introduction  Ixxix 

or  one  machine,  or  one  method,  or  one  nation,  over 
another  ?  "  Were  I  asked  to  enumerate  all  the  pos- 
sible advantages  of  Arctic  explorations,  I  should  say 
frankly  I  cannot  do  so,  any  more  than  I  or  anyone 
could  have  said,  fifteen  or  twenty  years  ago,  that  an 
insignificant  grass  growing  on  the  banks  of  a  tropical 
river  would  make  our  incandescent  electric  light  a  possi- 
bility. It  would  not  be  at  all  strange  if,  in  a  region  of 
the  strangest  contrasts,  where  active  volcanoes  are 
found  surrounded  by  eternal  snow  and  ice,  and  where 
the  popp)- — symbol  of  warmth  and  sleep  and  luxury — 
blossoms  at  the  very  foot  of  the  crags  of  icy  glaciers, 
some  material  were  found  which  would  make  possible 
some  yet  unknown  necessity  of  our  future  civihsation. 

But  suppose  we  admit  that  Arctic  exploration  is  only 
a  matter  of  sentiment,  with  no  money  return  ;  no  in- 
crease of  commerce  ;  no  fruit  of  colonisation  ;  no  har- 
vest of  great  good  for  many  men.  Let  it  stand  as  a 
sentiment  ;  it  has  good  company.  Love  and  patriot- 
ism and  religion  are  matters  of  sentiment,  and  we  ask 
no  money  return  for  them. 

Yet  a  question  which  claimed  the  lives  of  such  men 
as  Kane,  Hall,  De  Long,  Chipp,  and  Lockwood,  of 
our  own  countrymen,  and  Franklin,  Bellot,  Crozier, 
and  many  more  from  across  the  water,  and  has  in- 
spired the  pens  of  Markham,  Petermann,  Barrow,  Mel- 
ville, and  others,  needs  no  apologies  or  defence. 
There  are  no  pages  of  England's  history  on  which 
she  prides  herself  more  than  those  on  which  are  in- 
scribed the  work  and  the  discoveries  of  her  sons 
within  the  realm  of  noonday  nights  and  midnight 
suns,  and  there  is  no  American  that  is  not  proud  of 
the  records  of  De  Haven,  Kane,  Hayes,  Hall,  De 
Long,  Greely,  Lockwood,  and  Schley. 

Whatever  may  be  said  against  Arctic  exploration, 
it  remains  a  definite  fact,  that  no  other  portion  of  the 


XXX 


Introduction 


globe  possesses  such  universal  attraction  for  joung 
and  old,  illiterate  and  intelligent,  weak  and  strong,  as 
this.  And  one  thing  is  as  certain  as  that  the  North 
Star  will  continue  to  shine  :  regardless  of  utility  or 
non-utility,  the  inherent  charm  of  Arctic  work,  and 
the  irrepressible  restlessness  of  the  human  animal  as 
long  as  there  remains  a  corner  of  the  earth  unknown 
to  him,  will  keep  up  efforts  in  the  "White  North" 
till  every  square  mile  of  sea  and  land  has  been 
charted. 


PART 


RECONNAISSANCE    OF    THE    CIREENLANI)    INLAND    ICE, 

1886. 

St.  John's  to  Godhavn  on  the  Whaler  Eagle — Godhavn  to  Pakitsok 
Fjord  in  an  Oomiak — Eastward  over  the  Ice-Cap— 7500  Feet  above  the 
Sea — Back  to  the  Land— Sailing  down  the  Ice-Slopes — Forty  Miles 
IN  A  Night — Into  the  Tossukatek  Fjord — Across  the  Base  of  Nour- 
soAK   Peninsula — Fossil  Beds  of  Atanekerdluk — Aboard  the  Eagle 

AGAIN    AND    ACROSS    BaFFIn's    BaY — DEXTERITY   HARBOUR — CaPE    ADAIR — 

The  Savage  West  Coast — A  Playful  Whale — Natives — Bears — An 
Arctic  Hurricane — Cumberland  Sound — Fighting  for  Liberiv — Back 
TO  St.  John's. 


ON  THE  GREAT   ICE. 


PART   I. 


RECONNAISSANCE  OF  THE  GREENLAND  INLAND  ICE,   I  886. 


\ 


T 


H  E  Navy  Depart- 
ment havinor  grant- 
ed my  application 
for  leave,  I  made  the 
necessary  arrangements 
and  left  Sydney,  C.  B.,  on 
the  steam  whaler  Eagle, 
Captain  Jackman,  Master, 
late  in  May,  1886. 

The  northward  voyage 
to  Greenland  was  one 
of  intense  interest  and 
novelty  to  me.  The  masterly  way  in  which  the 
Eagle s  solid  iron-clad  bow  was  handled  by  Jackman 
to  smash  a  passage  through  the  early-season  ice  of 
Davis  Strait  was  a  revelation,  and  the  bracing  air,  the 
daylight  growing  till  the  whole  twenty-four  hours 
were  brilliant  in  sunlight,  and  the  endless  succession 
of  contrasts,  make  the  voyage  a  never-to-be-forgotten 
memory. 

One  day  a  continuous  succession  of  grinding,  shiver- 
ing shocks  as  the  Eagle  rammed  the  ice  ;  a  constant 
stopping  and  backing,  then  going  ahead  again  ;  a  con- 
tinual rattling  of  the  rudder-chains  as  the  helm  was 
hurled  port,  starboard,  then  port  again  ;  and  a  contin- 
ual cry  from  the  man  in  the  crow's-nest  conning  the 

3 


4  Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

ship  ;  the  next,  the  ship  rolling^  and  pitching  as  if 
mad,  the  decks  awash  with  water,  and  the  foam  and 
spray  driving  over  the  rail  and  across  the  companion- 
way  in  a  bhnding  drift  of  snow,  while  overhead  the 
rigging  was  shrieking  and  the  stay-sails  tense  as  iron 
in  a  wild  north-easterly  gale. 


INSPECTOR  NEILS  ANDERSEN. 

North  Greenland  Inspectorate. 


Perhaps  the  next  day  the  Eag/cs  deck  was  as  level 
as  a  floor,  though  the  whole  ship  was  vibrating  with 


Reconnaissance  of  1886  5 

the  hum  of  the  frosted  rigging  overhead,  while  just 
above  the  crow's-nest  spread  a  hfeless  dome  of  lead  ; 
to  leeward  a  sea  of  ink,  blacker  yet  by  contrast 
with  the  spray  cut  from  the  waves  and  whirled  and 
beaten  into  snow-flakes,  rising  in  the  distance  to  meet 
a  sky  black  as  itself  ;  close  to  windward  a  solid  grind- 
ing white  pack  imprisoning  two  or  three  huge  spec- 
tral bergs,  and  above  it  a  narrow  band  of  light,  the 
"ice-blink,"  like  a  long,  low,  mid-winter  sunset,  or  the 
frosty  two-edged  blade  of  a  viking. 

Then  running  out  of  the  fog  and  storm,  we  would 
enter  a  rippling  sea  of  sapphire  and  gold,  with  an  ex- 
quisite mackerel  sky  above,  and  here  and  there  a  berg 
gleaming  blue  and  rose  in  the  level  rays  of  the  mid- 
night sun. 

June  6th,  the  liao/c  Ittt  me  at  Godhavn  and 
steamed  away  for  the  northern  whaling  grounds. 
Here  I  was  obliged  to  wait  two  weeks  for  the  ice  to 
clear  out  of  Disco  Ba)'.  During  these  two  weeks  the 
weather  was  sufficiently  variegated  to  suit  the  most 
capricious  fancy.  Rain,  snow,  fog,  wind,  calm,  tropi- 
cal sunshine,  and  freezing  cold,  all  played  their  parts 
in  the  shiftino-  hours.  Flowers  bloomed  alongside 
beds  of  snow,  snow-buntings  sang  on  the  rocks,  the 
.sea  was  alive  with  gulls  and  terns  and  ducks,  and  the 
air  full  of  the  murmur  of  running  water,  while  the 
eternal  ice-cap  of  the  island  looked  down  from  the 
top  of  the  cliffs. 

A  wedding,  a  christening,  visits  to  the  "  store  " 
with  its  wealth  of  arctic  treasures  of  fur  and  ivory, 
and  long  tramps  up  the  cliffs  and  over  the  ice-cap  of 
the  island,  fully  occupied  my  time  until  at  last  I  could 
embark  for  Ritenbenk  at  the  head  of  the  bay  in  a 
round  little  tub  of  a  sail-boat  manned  by  a  crew  of 
half-breeds :  Neils,  black-bearded,  grey-eyed ;  Peter, 
yellow-haired,  blue-eyed  ;   Ikkias,  Johann,  and  Daniell, 


Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 


with  Eskimo  Frederick,  who  had  been  one  of  the  dog 
drivers  of  the  EngHsh  1875-76  Expedition,  as  pilot 
and  interpreter. 

My  plan,  in  outline,  was  to  gain  the  border  of  the 
interior  ice  at  some  point  as  near  the  north-east  angle 

of  Disco  Bay  as  pos- 
sible, my  preference 
being  the  base  of 
Noursoak  Peninsula, 
and  then  take  a course 
towards  Petermann's 
Mountain  on  the 
east  coast.  But  for 
various  reasons  I  was 
obliged  to  modify  my 
plans. 

My  sledging  equip- 
ment was  made  in  the 
lightest  and  most 
thorough  manner, 
under  ni)-  own  super- 
vision, and  entirely 
without  reference  to 
le  use  of  dogs.  The 
principal  items  were 
two  nine-foot  sledges, 
thirteen  inches  wide,  made  of  hickory,  steel,  and  hide, 
on  a  modified  Hudson  Bay  pattern,  and  weighing, 
complete,  with  drag  ropes  and  lashings,  twenty-three 
pounds  each  ;  small  jacketed  alcohol  stoves,  nine- 
foot  double-ended  ash  alpenstocks  with  steel  point 
and  chisel,  rubber  ice-creepers,  snow-shoes,  snow- 
skates. 

Rations  consisted  of  tea,  sugar,  condensed  milk, 
hard  bread,  pemmican,  cranberry  jam,  baked  beans, 
Liebig  extract,  and  an  experimental  mixture  of  meat, 


FREDERICK. 


Reconnaissance  of  1886  7 

biscuit,  and  desiccated  potato,  put  up  in  two-pound 
cans  by  Richard  &  Robbins,  of  Dover,  Delaware. 

June  23d  I  left  Ritenbenk  with  my  friend  Christian 
Maigaard,  assistant  Governor  of  Ritenbenk,  eight 
natives,  an  oomiak,  and  two  attendant  kayaks.  At 
midnight  we  rounded  the  southern  extremity  of  Arve- 
prins  Island,  in  Disco  Bay,  and  headed  across  the  mouth 
of  Ikaresak  Soundfor  the  entrance  of  Pakitsok  Fjord. 
Above  us  the  clouds  were  heavy  and  leaky,  and  ahead 
every  depression  of  the  dark  mountains  and  the  un- 
derside of  the  black  cloud  canopy  above  them  was  lit 
with  the  pale,  cold  glare  of  the  "  ice-blink."' 

Entering  the  narrow-mouthed,  bluff-walled  fjord,  we 
camped.  The  next  day  we  proceeded  up  the  fjord 
through  the  narrow  caiion  which  separates  the  upper 
from  the  lower  fjord,  said  by  the  natives  to  be  impass- 
able except  at  certain  stages  of  the  tide.  One  wall  of 
the  canon  was  glowing  in  the  brilliant  yellow  sunlight 
which  poured  in  a  level  flood  through  the  western 
entrance  ;  the  other  lay  in  deep  purple  shadow  ;  be- 
tween them  flowed  the  strong  deep-green  current, 
and  through  the  canon  the  upper  fjord,  known  to  the 
natives  as  Illartlek,  gleamed  blue,  and  the  summits  of 
the  inner  mountains  were  soft  with  yellow  light.  Be- 
yond the  cafion  the  fjord  expanded  into  a  broad  lake, 
contracting  again  several  miles  farther  up.  Above 
this  point  the  water  was  pale  green,  rapidly  growing 
shallow,  whiter,  and  fresher. 

At  six  A.M.  of  the  25th  we  landed  at  the  head  of  the 
fjord,  and  twenty-four  hours  later  I  had  reconnoitred 
the  entire  extent  of  the  mountain  dam,  some  twenty- 
five  hundred  feet  in  height,  which  keeps  the  Inland 
Ice  in  check  in  this  vicinity,  and  found  a  practicable 
route  to  the  surface  of  the  ice-cap.     Early  on  the  28th 

'The  Danish  colonists  almost  always  refer  to  the  Inland  Ice  as  the  "ice- 
blink," and  I  follow  their  custom. 


8 


Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 


we  had  everything  up  to  the  ice-foot,  i  153  feet  above 
the  sea,  and  on  tiie  morning  of  the  29tli  our  two 
sledges,  the  Sivcct heart  and  Princess  Thyra  (named 
in  honour  of  Denmark's  youngest  princess),  lay  with 
their  loads  upon  the  landward  edge  of  the  ice-cap, 
1 956  feet  above  the  sea.  We  lay  down  under  the  lee  of 
the  sledges,  but  the  wind  and  the  blinding  sun  made 
sleep  an  impossilMlity.  The  masses  of  black  rock  be- 
yond the  margin  of  the  "  ice-blink  "  were  tremulous  in 

the  dazzling  glare;  the  blue  fjord 
far  below  us,  glistening  in  some 
places  like  burnished,  in  others 
like  frosted,  steel  ;  and  over  and 
beyond  the  mountains.  Disco 
Bay  lay  blue. 

At  eight  P.M.,  the  snow  hav- 
ing  hardened,    Maigaard  and   I 
started     due    east    up   the  "  ice- 
blink."    As  we  started,  the  blue 
of  Disco    Bay  was  blotted  out 
by    a   bank  of  pearl-white  fog, 
which  poured  through  the  nar- 
rows, slipped    over  the   mount- 
ains at  the  mouth  of  the  fjord, 
ajid   crept    down    their    eastern 
slopes  in  feath- 
er)-  sprays   of 
s  i  1  \-  e  r     upon 
jet.      A     little 
later  a  mass  of 
black     clouds 
hid    the     sun, 
and    at     mid- 
niofht  the  fog- 

BLAESE   DALE  CATARACT.  blottcd  O  VI  t 

Near  Godh-ivn,  Disco  Island.  the      land      be- 


Reconnaissance  of  1886 


hind  us.  At  one  a.m.  it  overtook  us  ;  the  suddenness 
with  which  it  blotted  out  everything  and  shrouded  us 
in  grey  notliingness  was 
startling.  We  kept  on  till 
the  fog  changed  to  sleet, 
and,  the  wind  increasing, 
I  called  a  halt  three  thou- 
sand feet  above  the  sea. 
Turning  the  sledges  up- 
on their  sides,  and  plac- 
ing our  rubber  pillows 
and  blankets  in  their  lee, 
we  lay  down.  By  this 
time  the  wind  had  be- 
come a  gale,  and  the 
sleet,  changed  to  snow, 
was  driving  in  a  continu- 
ous sheet  over  the  tops 
of  the  sledges. 

We  lay  behind  our 
sledges,  which  with  our- 
selves were  soon  buried 
in  the  drift,  until  late  in 
the  afternoon  of  the 
second  day,  when  the 
steady  roar  of  the  storm 
broke  into  intermittent  squalls,  and  crawling  out 
we  got  momentary  glimpses,  behind  and  below  us, 
of  a  dense  mass  of  clouds,  black  beneath  and  dark, 
dull  lead  colour  above,  hurrying  northward  just  above 
the  summits  of  the  land.  The  land  itself,  hoary  in 
its  elevated  portions  with  the  newly  fallen  snow,  lay 
everywhere  else  as  black  as  midnight,  and  the  fjord 
had  become  a  pool  of  ink.  Ahead  of  us,  a  pale  super- 
natural glare  rose  nearly  to  the  zenith,  and  in  every 
direction     the    "  ice-blink,"    swept    by   furious    snow- 


DANISH   ESKIMO  WOMAN. 

Showing  Greenland  Styles  in  Sealskin 
Jackets,  and  Characteristic  Eskimo 
Method  of  Carrying  Children. 


lo         Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

squalls,  and  its  inequalities  obliterated  in  the  shadow- 
less light,  stretched  dead  and  silent. 

At  six  P.M.,  the  clouds  growing  blacker  and  blacker 
every  moment,  and  every  indication  pointing  to  a 
protracted  storm,  I  decided  to  take  the  instruments 
and  go  back  to  the  tent  and  await  more  favourable 
weather.  At  the  level  of  the  brink  of  the  ice-tongue 
overlooking  the  ragged  descent  through  the  crevasses 
and  gulches  to  the  ice-foot,  rain  had  fallen,  instead  of 
snow,  and  the  edges  of  the  crevasses,  the  sides  of  the 
gullies,  and  the  hard  blue  pinnacles  were  like  oiled 
steel,  utterly  impracticable.  We  could  do  nothing 
but  climb  over  the  crest  of  the  mountain  dam  and 
down  the  cliffs  to  the  valley.  Here  we  forded  the 
glacier  river,  and  at  midnight  reached  the  tent,  the 
rain  falling  in  sheets,  the  wind  dashing  first  up  and 
then  down  the  valley,  threatening  every  moment  to 
level  the  tent,  and  the  glacier  river  a  roaring  torrent. 
Truly,  the  Inland  Ice  had  given  us  a  savage  welcome, 
but  we  were  not  yet  done  with  it. 

On  the  afternoon  of  the  fourth  day,  July  5th,  bits 
of  blue  sky  were  visible,  and  we  climbed  the  ice-cliffs 
once  more,  reached  the  sledges,  dug  them  out,  and 
started  due  east  again. 

North  and  east  of  us  the  surface  of  the  ice  was  high- 
er, and  the  swells  apparently  longer  and  flatter  than 
those  already  passed.  South-east  lay  the  great  feeder 
basin  of  the  Jacobshavn  Glacier  stretching  eastward 
into  the  "  ice-blink,"  like  a  great  bay,  and  up  through 
its  centre,  like  a  tide  rip  in  a  smooth  sea,  glistened  the 
ragged  points  of  the  glacier  itself.  Just  previous  to 
starting,  while  walking  near  the  sledges  without  snow- 
shoes  or  alpenstock,  I  broke  into  a  narrow  crevasse, 
and  as  I  hung  for  an  instant  supported  by  my  out- 
stretched arms,  before  scrambling  out,  the  fragments 
of  the  treacherous  snow  arch  went  rattling  down  the 


Reconnaissance  of  1886 


1 1 


azure  depths  till  the  echoes  they  awoke  were  like  the 
chimes  of  silver  bells.  Our  snow-shoes  prevented  a 
repetition  of  the  occur- 
rence in  crossing  the  net- 
work of  crevasses  which 
extended  east  from  our 
camp.  As  we  advanced 
these  disappeared,  and 
in  the  cold  of  the  early 
morning  the  entire  sur- 
face became  one  firm 
unbroken  crust,  afford- 
ing excellent  walking. 
Two  or  three  small  ponds 
which  we  met  were  froz- 
en just  hard  enough  to 
support  us  as  we  half 
slid,  half  skated  rapidly 
across  on  our  "  ski 
(snow-skates ).  While 
crossing  another,  Mai- 
gaard  followed  me  too 
closely  ;  the  ice,  cracked 
and  weakened  by  my 
passing,  broke,  and  let 
the  Princess  Tliyra  through  in  some  five  feet  of 
water,  and  it  was  only  with  the  utmost  difficulty  that 
we  got  her  out  and  to  the  bank  again.  This  mishap 
brought  us  to  a  halt  in  a  hollow  3300  feet  above  the 
sea,  and  we  turned  in  in  the  lee  of  the  sledges  for  a 
few  hours'  sleep,  after  which  we  spent  the  day  drying 
our  foot-gear  and  Maigaard's  sleeping-gear,  saturated 
by  the  accident  and  frozen  stiff. 

As  soon  as  the  sun  got  around  to  the  north-west 
and  the  snow  had  hardened  sufficiently  to  support 
our    sledges,    we    strapped    our    snow-shoes    on    and 


GREENLAND  SMALL   BOY. 


12         Northward  Over  the  "Great  Ice" 

started  again.  We  soon  reached  a  long,  narrow  lake, 
stretching  across  our  path  to  the  left,  and  not  yet 
frozen  hard  enough  to  support  us.  To  flank  this  lake 
cost  us  a  detour  of  two  miles,  and  even  then  we  were 
compelled  to  wade  through  the  morass  of  saturated 
snow  which  surrounded  it  and  extended  far  on  either 
side. 


SOUTH   COAST  OF   DISCO  ISLAND,    EAST  OF  GODHAVN. 
Tabular   Herg  in   Koregroiuid, 

Soon  after  midniglu  the  snow  surface  became  firm 
and  coarsely  granular  with  occasional  small  patches 
of  snow  of  marble-like  fineness  and  whiteness,  sou- 
venirs of  the  last  storm. 

Later  we  encountered  areas  of  glazed  snow,  of  such 
hardness  that  even  the  brads  in  our  sandals  and  the 
steel  shoes  of  the  sledges  scarcely  left  a  trace.  The 
fierce  morning  gale  brought  us  to  a  standstill  4100 
feet  above  the  sea,  the  entire  surface  of  the  "  ice- 
blink," as   far   as  we   could   see,   glazed   and  shining 


Reconnaissance  of  1886  13 

beneath  the  morning  sun,  with  a  blinding  brilliancy 
impossible  to  describe. 

Taught  by  our  experience  at  previous  camps,  that 
it  was  impossible  to  sleep  exposed  to  the  powerful 
glare  of  the  sun  and  the  searching  sweep  of  the  wind, 
and  having  at  this  camp  suitable  material,  we  built  a 
rough  hut,  cutting  blocks  of  snow  with  a  long,  nar- 
row-bladed  saw,  and  building  a  low  wall  around  three 
sides  of  a  rectangle,  over  which  we  spread  a  rubber 
blanket  and  weighted  it  down  with  the  sledges. 


BIVOUAC  ON  THE  ICE-CAP. 


During  the  next  nine  days  we  pushed  on  through 
various  experiences,  usually  in  the  teeth  of  a  head- 
wind. Sometimes  far  up  the  most  delicate  cirrus 
clouds  hung  motionless  in  the  blue,  again  black  banks 
of  cumuli  would  sweep  up  above  the  horizon.  Once  or 
twice  we  were  enveloped  in  dense  fog,  which  coated 
everything  with  tiny,  milk-white  crystals  of  ice,  and 
in   one  march   a   brilliant  parhelion    filled   the   north- 


14  Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

eastern  sky  with  rainbow  hues  and  eHcited  answering 
flashes  of  colour  from  the  "-Htterincr  snow-tield. 

After  getting  above  an  altitude  of  six  thousand 
feet,  the  temperature  dropped  to  io°  and  8.5°  F. 

When  we  resumed  our  march  on  the  15th,  the  wind 
had  settled  down  to  a  south-easterly  gale  loaded  with 
snow  ;  and  against  this  we  advanced  with  goggles  on, 
hoods  pulled  up,  and  heads  down,  keeping  our  course  by 
the  wind,  until  the  sinking  of  the  sledges  in  the  soft 
snow,  and  the  continual  clogging  of  our  snow-shoes, 
compelled  us  to  stop  and  wait  the  cessation  of  the  storm 
at  an  elevation  of  7525  feet.  Too  tired  and  sleepy  from 
our  struggle  with  the  storm  to  build  a  hut,  even  had 
the  loose  snow  rendered  it  possible,  we  lay  down  be- 
hind our  sledges  and  fell  asleep. 

When  I  awoke  we  were  completeh'  snowed  under, 
and  here  we  lay  for  forty-eight  hours,  with  the  wind 
and  snow  driving  in  one  incessant,  sullen  roar  across 
the  drift  above  us.  Then  we  crawled  out  during  a 
lull  in  the  storm  and  dug  a  shallow  pit,  covered  it 
with  a  rubber  blanket,  excavated  our  sledges  and  bags, 
weighted  the  blanket  down  with  the  sledges,  threw 
our  bags  underneath,  and  crawled  after  them. 

About  five  A.M.,  Monday  the  19th,  a  narrow  ribbon 
of  crystalline  blue  appeared  beneath  the  clouds  in  the 
south-east,  and  widened  and  grew  until  it  reached  the 
sun.  Then  followed  a  perfect  day,  warm,  clear,  al- 
most calm,  enabling  me  to  get  a  good  observation, 
and  permitting  vis  to  dry  all  our  gear.  Our  camp, 
7525  feet  above  the  sea,  and  within  a  fraction  of  one 
hundred  miles  from  the  margin  of  the  "  ice-blink,"  lay 
in  a  shallow  basin,  the  snow,  previous  to  the  last  storm, 
of  the  consistency  of  fine  granulated  sugar  as  far 
down  as  I  could  force  my  alpenstock  (some  six  feet). 

We  had  six  days'  provisions  left,  and  being  uncer- 
tain as  to   the   changes   in   the  lower  portion  of  the 


Reconnaissance  of  1886 


15 


"ice-blink"  during  our  absence,  I  decided  to  return. 
We  lashed  the  Sivecihcart  and  the  Princess  Thyra  to- 
gether, making  as  strong  and  flexible  a  little  catama- 
ran as  one  could  wish  to  see  ;  the  black  sail,  yellow 
spars  and  hulls,  red  sailing  pennant,  and  the  flashing 
tins  of  the  load,  forming  a  vivid  contrast  to  the  un- 
broken white  expanse  of  the  "  ice-blink." 


COASTING. 


Late  on  the  19th  we  started  on  our  return  beneath 
a  cloudless  sky.  A  peculiar  phenomenon  noticed 
during  this  march  was  the  apparent  sinking  of  large 
areas  of  snow  at  intervals  as  we  passed  along,  ac- 
companied by  peculiar  muffled  reports  which  rum- 
bled away  beneath  the  crust  in  every  direction  until 
they  died  away  ;  just  as  happens  when  one  is  skating 
upon  a  freshly  frozen  lake  in  early  winter.  The  sky 
above  was  flawless  blue,  the  crimson  sun  in  one  direc- 
tion, the  yellow  moon  opposite,  and  the  plain  on 
which  we  travelled  spread  with  diamond    dust.     At 


1 6  Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

midnight  the  northern  sky  was  a  sea  of  crimson  Hght, 
and  the  snow  lay  bathed  in  dehcate  shades  of  rose. 

All  the  next  day  an  east  wind  blew,  and  the  sledges 
went  merrily  along  before  it,  requiring  no  exertion 
on  our  part  other  than  to  guide  and  restrain  them. 

During  this  march  sky  and  snow  were  again  brill- 
iant with  indescribable  splendour.  Not  a  cloud  was 
visible  except,  at  a  great  altitude,  two  or  three  deli- 
cate, motionless  "  mare's-tails,"  the  banners  of  the 
wind.  The  snow-dust  raised  by  our  snow-shoes 
went  hurrying  along  before  us  in  two  long,  sinuous 
lines  of  pale  rose-tinted  smoke,  twisting  and  waving 
like  spirits  of  the  ice  at  play. 

When  we  halted,  the  wind  was  howling  like  a  de- 
mon past  the  sledges.  After  rigging  a  rudder  (a 
hatchet  lashed  to  the  end  of  a  snow-skate)  to  the 
catamaran,  we  turned  in  upon  the  sledges.  As  the 
yellow  sun  stooped  to  the  northern  horizon  again, 
Maigaard  and  I  turned  out,  took  our  places  upon  the 
sledges,  and  began  a  bit  of  travelling  which,  as  far 
as  1  know,  has  no  parallel  in  arctic  work.  From 
midnight  till  five  a.m.  we  sped  along,  taking  levels  at 
the  speed  of  a  fast  walk,  and  dashing  rapidly  down 
the  inclines,  the  hatchet  rudder  working  admirably. 
Then  a  group  of  enormous  snow-covered  crevasses 
sprang  across  our  path,  and  the  land,  Noursoak  and 
Disco,  dark  and  half  shrouded  in  haze,  leaped  up 
from  behind  the  white  expanse  below  us  with  a  sud- 
denness that  was  absolutely  startling.  The  crevasses, 
the  most  magnificent  ones  we  had  seen,  were  many 
of  them  fifty  feet  wide,  and  the  group  was  about  half 
a  mile  across.  As  a  rule,  they  were  covered  by  snow 
arches,  though  in  several  places  these  had  fallen  in. 
The  snow  arches  being  apparently  strong,  we  rushed 
the  sledges  over,  taking  Hying  steps,  and  half  sup- 
porting ourselves  on  the   yard  of  the  catamaran,  as 


ICE-CAP  EQUIPMENT. 


Reconnaissance  of  1886  17 

the  wind  and  the  impetus  of  our  run  hurried  us 
across.  The  edges  of  all  the  openings  into  these 
huge  chasms  had  an  overhanging  lip  of  snow,  mak- 
ing it  impossible  to  approach  them  to  sound  or  look 
down.  We  could  only  get  hasty  glimpses  into  them 
as  we  passed  over  the  snow  arches,  and  these  showed 
that  their  ragfaed  blue  walls,  huno:  with  giant  icicles 
and  frostwork  of  fantastic  patterns,  descended  into 
depths  of  blue-black  night. 

Beyond  the  crevasses  the  descent  was  very  rapid, 
and,  jumping  on  the  sledges  again,  we  began  an  ex- 
citing run.  The  wind,  straining  the  sail  till  it  threat- 
ened to  tear  it  from  the  mast,  and  the  rapid  descent 
together,  drove  us  down  the  frozen  slope  with  a 
breathless  rush  which  only  those  who  have  been  on 
a  toboggan  can  understand,  our  supple  catamaran 
gliding  over  the  snow  and  rising  and  falling  to  every 
inequality  with  sinewy  ease  and  grace. 

There  are  two  who  will  not  soon  forget  that  glori- 
ous  dash  down  the  slope  of  the  eternal  ice  in  the 
crisp  air  and  rosy  light  of  that  arctic  summer  morning. 
At  the  end  of  an  hour  we  reached  a  region  where 
every  depression  was  occupied  by  a  blue  pond,  often 
hidden  by  the  hummocks  till  we  were  almost  into  it, 
and  we  were  compelled  to  lower  our  sail,  get  off  the 
catamaran,  and  walk  until  we  were  stopped  by  a  broad 
morass  of  slush  and  water,  extending  right  and  left 
as  far  as  we  could  see.  The  total  descent  during  this 
march  was  2 1 25  feet.  The  snow  where  we  halted  was 
a  mass  of  heavy  slush,  and  the  wind  threatened  to 
pick  us  up  bodily  and  hurl  us  into  the  swamp  ahead. 
Here  we  remained  until  midnight,  waiting  for  the 
surface  of  the  morass  to  freeze  sufficiently  to  support 
us.  Scarcely  fifty  yards  from  camp,  however,  we  sank 
to  our  knees,  our  snow-shoes  coming  up  loaded  with 
slush,  at  a  temperature  that  needed  but  a  touch  of  the 


i8         Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

air  to  make  it  congeal.  Fortunately,  the  depth  of  this 
slush  and  water  nowhere  exceeded  three  feet,  and  ford- 
ing the  stream,  which  ran  through  the  centre  of  the 
morass,  we  at  last  emerged  upon  dry  ice,  and,  clearing 
the  sledges  of  their  load  of  slush,  started  on  a  run  to  re- 
store sensation  to  our  feet.  For  several  hours  these 
half-frozen  morasses  alternated  with  hard  blue  ice, 
honeycombed  with  water  cavities.  Then  the  character 
of  the  ice  changed  completely,  the  slush  and  water 
cavities  disappeared,  and  the  entire  surface  consisted 
of  a  white  granular  snow-ice  scored  in  every  direction 
with  furrows  one  to  four  feet  deep,  and  two  to  eight 
and  ten  feet  wide,  with  a  little  rill  at  the  bottom  of 
each. 

The  tops  of  all  the  hummocks  were  traversed  by 
more  or  less  numerous  crevasses,  and  one  of  the  cre- 
vasses, covered  by  a  light  snow  arch,  came  near  robbing 
me  of  my  friend.  We  had  pushed  the  catamaran 
across,  as  was  our  custom,  till  it  rested  at  each  end  on 
the  opposite  edges  of  the  chasm,  and  I  had  leaped 
across  to  pull  at  the  same  instant  that  Maigaard 
pushed.  Unfortunately,  he  tripped  as  he  sprang  after, 
stepped  heavily  upon  the  snow  arch,  it  gave  way  be- 
neath him,  and  clinging  to  the  stern  of  the  catamaran 
he  sank  into  the  crevasse,  while  the  bow  shot  into  the 
air  with  a  jerk  that  nearly  tore  it  from  my  grasp. 
For  a  moment  the  sledges  hung  tilted  on  the  lip  of 
the  chasm,  with  a  man's  life  hanging  on  their  quiver- 
ing forms  ;  then  my  weight  conquered,  and  Maigaard's 
head  came  up  to  the  surface  level  ;  the  sledges  crept 
farther  on  to  the  ice  till  the  long  arm  of  the  lever  was 
in  my  favour,  and  Maigaard,  pale  but  smiling,  swung 
himself  up  on  the  ice.  A  little  farther  on,  I  came  in 
for  a  disagreeable  though  harmless  experience.  Hav- 
ing stepped  down  mid-thigh-deep  in  a  glacier  stream 
to  lift  the  Szocct heart  and  the  Princess  Thyra  across, 


-   *   * 

O     -=      ■3C 


I 
i 


5 

1 

•;A' 

»/ 

ij — . 

^ 

\ 

/■ 

P 

1*- 

r^1\ 

"    O 

20         Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice  " 

the  current  swept  my  feet  from  under  me,  plunged  me 
into  a  deep  hole  just  below,  then  rushed  me  along 
between  the  polished  banks  with  dizzy  velocit\-.  I 
was  beginning  to  get  irritated  at  my  utter  helpless- 
ness in  this  stream,  scarcely  more  than  six  feet  wide, 
or  more  than  five  feet  deep,  when  a  shallow  place 
gave  my  spiked  sandal  a  point  of  application  for  a 
spring  against  the  steep  bank,  up  which  I  scrambled, 
and  ran  to  help  Maigaard,  who  was  barely  able  to 
hold  the  half-submerged  sledges  against  the  current. 

The  furrows  and  crevasses  increased  in  number 
and  width  as  we  neared  the  land.  After  the  sun 
rose  from  its  short  dip  below  the  horizon,  we  forgot 
everything  in  the  splendour  of  the  morning.  The 
wealth  of  deep, rich  colouring  among  the  dark  mount- 
ains below  us  was  wonderful,  and  through  their 
massive  portals  we  caught  glimpses  of  the  deep  blue  of 
Pakitsok  and  Kangendluarsarsoak  Fjords,  and  farther 
away  Ikaresak  Sound.  Behind  us  the  yellow  sun 
floated  along,  above  the  steel-blue  line  of  the  frozen 
horizon,  through  a  sea  of  liquid  fire.  Reaching  the 
edge  of  the  ice-tongue,  we  anchored  the  sledges,  and 
with  my  instruments  slung  on  my  back,  descended 
the  glacier  face. 

All  the  more  salient  features  here  were  the  same 
as  when  we  made  the  ascent  three  weeks  before,  but 
those  three  weeks  of  arctic  summer  had  transformed 
every  inch  of  surface  into  solid,  glistening,  unctuous 
blue  ice,  and  every  detail  was  sharper,  deeper,  more 
angular,  more  heavily  accented,  like  an  etching  longer 
exposed  to  the  acid.  Ridges  which  then  were  broad 
enough  to  permit  a  sledge  to  pass  with  a  man  on  each 
side,  were  now  mere  knife  edges  ;  crevasses  that  could 
be  jumped  then,  were  impassable  gulfs  now.  As 
we  went  down  the  valley  we  found  a  new  tribe  of 
flowers     had     made     their    appearance     during    our 


Reconnaissance  of  1886 


21 


absence.  In  some  places  the  sod  was  covered  with 
large  purple  blossoms,  and  delicate  bluebells  were 
abundant  everywhere.     The  heat  in  the  valley  even 


Jfx 

-^ 

LARGE   PURPLE  BLOSSOMS. 


at  this  early  hour  was  oppressive  to  us,  accustomed 
to  the  cold  atmosphere  of  the  "  ice-blink,"  and  when 
we  reached  the  tent,  I  was  carrying  nearly  all  my 
wearing  apparel  except  foot-gear  slung  at   my  back. 

Two  days  later  my  burning  eyes  and  cracked  and 
blistered  face  had  regained  something  like  their  nor- 
mal condition,  and  we  packed  the  sledges  over  the 
mountains  and  down  to  the  tent  on  our  backs,  and 
returned  to  Ritenbenk.  Here  much  to  my  regret  I 
was  obliged  to  part  with  my  tawny-bearded,  blue- 
eyed  friend  Maigaard,  and  go  on  alone  to  the  Tossu- 
katek  Glacier  and  the  base  of  Noursoak  Peninsula. 

The  voyage  in  a  small  boat  from  Ritenbenk  to  Kek- 
ertak,  where  I  was  to  obtain  my  crew  and  oomiak  for 
the  journey  up  the  fjord,  was  without  special  incident 


22 


Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 


except  the  waitintj  one  niyht  in  the  rain  at  the  black 
point  of  Niakornak  for  the  swiftly  drifting  bergs  and 
ice-pans  to  give  us  an  opportunity  to  cross  the  fjord. 
The  black  rocks  of  the  point  tossed  and  pulled  at  the 
boat's  painter,  the  rain  pattered  merrily  on  my  rubber 
blanket  as  on  a  tin  roof,  and  the  point  itself  under  its 
sable  canopy  of  clouds,  with  ragged  veils  of  rain  driv- 
ing across  it,  was  as  wild  a  piece  of  rockwork  as  I 
have  ever  seen. 


ESKIMO   KAYAKERS   EFFECTING   A   LANDING. 

F"rom  Kekertak  I  pushed  on  up  the  Tossukatek 
Fjord  in  an  oomiak,  manned  by  a  crew  of  broad- 
shouldered,  red-cheeked,  white-toothed  young  men, 
the  finest  specimens  of  Eskimos  I  have  seen.  To  my 
inexperienced  eye,  the  fjord  seemed  utterly  impass- 
able. From  shore  to  shore  it  was  filled  with  a  con- 
fusion of  huge  tlat-topped  bergs,  the  narrow  canons 
and  tortuous  lanes  between  them  apparently  packed 
solid  with  berg  fragments  and  pans  of  floe  ice.      But 


Reconnaissance  of  1886 


23 


my  pilots  in  the  kayaks  seemed  to  know  b)'  instinct 
where  there  was  a  passage,  and  on  the  second  day  we 
reached  the  head  of  the  fjord  without  mishap.  This 
voyage  up  the  long,  narrow  outlet  of  such  an  enormous 
and  active  glacier  as  Tossukatek,  was  one  of  inex- 
pressible grandeur.  The  air  was  continuously  filled 
with  a  succession  of  sharp  reports,  varying  in  loudness 
from  that  of  a  percussion-cap  to  heavy  artillery,  while 
every  few  moments  there  would  come  a  reverberating 
peal  as  of  rolling  thunder,  and  the  swells  from  dis- 
rupting icebergs  kept  the  whole  mighty  fleet  surging 
and  sw^aying,  and  broke  with  intermittent  roar  against 
the  rocks  of  the  shore. 


ESKIMO  KAYAKERS  TRAVELLING  OVERLAND. 

My  first  view  of  the  glacier  showed  it  stretching 
across  the  head  of  the  fjord,  a  giant  rose-coloured  dam, 
the  majestic  "  ice-blink  "  rising  blue  above  it. 

Late  in  the  evening  of  August  3d,  as  the  sun  was 
dropping  behind   the  northern   mountains,   I   started 


24  Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

from  my  little  tent,  which  had  been  erected  close  to 
the  edge  of  the  ice-cap,  on  my  solitary  reconnaissance 
of  the  "great  ice  "  across  the  base  of  Noursoak  Pen- 
insula. Three  days  later  I  was  back  to  the  tent  again, 
having  crossed  the  ice  to  the  edge  of  the  Great 
Kariak  Glacier,  some  twenty-five  miles  northward, 
where,  after  a  momentary  glimpse  into  the  mighty 
basin  of  the  great  ice-stream  filled  with  chaos-heaped 
ice,  then  out  through  the  magnificent  berg-dotted 
blue  waters  of  Omenak  Fjord,  I  had  been  caught  in  a 
south-easter,  the  black  clouds  of  which  poured  over 
Noursoak,  hiding  the  snowy  peaks  of  Okaitsortalik, 
Majorkarsuatsiak,  and  their  companions,  and  blotting 
my  world  out  behind  a  veil  of  falling  snow  and  rain. 

Then  I  had  retraced  my  steps  through  the  continu- 
ation of  the  storm  back  to  my  tent.  This  solitary 
experience  in  the  silence  and  desolation  and  infinite 
expanse  of  the  "great  ice"  made  a  deep  impression 
upon  me. 

Returning  to  Kekertak,  I  climbed  the  ragged  peak 
of  Nayat  on  the  north  side  of  the  fjord,  where  I  had 
a  magnificent  view  of  the  entire  north-eastern  section 
of  Disco  Bay.  Beneath  the  eye  of  an  observer  on 
the  summit  of  Nayat,  the  whole  of  Tossukatek  Fjord, 
with  its  ramifications  into  Ikaresak  Sound,  and  the 
great  glacier  at  its  head,  lies  like  a  map,  and  the 
apparently  level  horizon  of  the  ice-cap  stretches  from 
north-east  to  south-east. 

Then  from  Kekertak  I  went  to  the  famous  fossil 
beds  of  Atanekerdluk.  Here  I  found  fragments  of 
trees,  black  petrifactions  with  the  grain  of  the  wood 
and  the  texture  of  the  bark  showing  clearly.  Pieces 
of  sandstone  split  readily  into  sheets,  between  which 
were  to  be  seen  sharp,  clear  impressions  of  large  net- 
veined  leaves,  every  tiniest  veinlet  and  minute  ser- 
ration  of    the   edofes  distinct  as  the  lines  of  a  steel 


26 


Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 


engraving  ;  long,  slender  parallel-veined  leaves  and 
exquisite  feathery  ferns.  To  one  who  appreciates 
the  strange  story  of  these  leaf  impressions,  yet  has 
not  the  circumscribed  microscopic  vision  of  the 
specialist,  these  fossils  give  strange  sensations.  One 
holds  in   his  hand  the  new-cut  grey  pages  of  a  book 


HARBOUR   OK    A  I  A  N  tKER  L)L  U  K. 


that  went  to  press  countless  ages  ago,  with  fresh  green 
leaves  scattered  through  it,  leaves  that  seem  familiar  to 
us,  that  remind  us  of  the  beech,  the  magnolia,  and  the 
oak,  leaves  such  as  may  be  found  in  the  sun-flecked 
aisles  of  any  of  our  June  forests  ;  yet  looking  over 
the  top  of  the  page  we  see  below  a  fleet  of  huge  ice- 
bergs, and  beyond  the  narrow  channel  the  eternal 
ice-dome  of  Disco  Island,  cresting  the  cliffs  and 
reaching  pendent  glacier  arms  down  their  sides.      I 


Reconnaissance  of  1886 


27 


descended  the  slope  with  a  strange,  unreal  feeling,  half 
expecting  that  if  I  turned  and  looked  up  the  gorge  I 
should  see  a  green,  leaf-carpeted  forest,  rustling  and 
shimmering  in  the  sunlight.  Yet  it  is  all  a  part  of 
this  land  of  startling  contrasts,  this  land  of  midnight 
sun  and  noonday  night,  of  tropical  skies  and  perennial 
snow,  of  mountains  half  hidden  beneath  the  eternal 
ice-caps,  yet  still  tinged  with  the  deep  glow  of  ancient 
volcanic  fires. 


ATANEKERDLUK  FOSSIL   BEDS. 


?"rom  Atanekerdluk  back  to  Kekertak,  thence  to 
Ritenbenk,  thence  again  in  a  sluggish  tub  of  a  sail- 
boat to  Godhavn,  where  the  Eagle  came  for  me  on 
the  6th  of  September. 

From  Godhavn  the  Eagle  steamed  directly  west 
across  Baffin's  Bay,  through  the  scattered  streams  of 
the  "  middle  ice,"  and  dropped  anchor  near  Agnes 
Monument,  just  north  of  the  river  Clyde.  The  low 
shore  here  and  the  mountains  back  of  it  were  covered 


28         Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

deeply  with  snow,  an  unbroken  ice-foot  hid  the 
beach,  and  new  ice  was  rapidly  forming.  In  the 
morning  the  ice  drove  us  out,  and  the  Eagle  steamed 
north  and  dropped  anchor  in  L^exterity  Harbour  of 
the  whalers,  an  uncharted  inlet,  lying  just  north 
of  Cape  Cargenholm,  in  a  group  of  entirely  unex- 
plored islands  and  deep  fjords.  The  surroundings  of 
the  harbour,  as  seen  through  the  deep  snow  and  drift- 
ing clouds,  were  wild  in  the  extreme.  Sharp,  ragged 
mountains  enclose  its  head,  the  black,  vertical  cliffs  at 
their  summits  standing  out  in  startling  relief  against 
the  white  shroud  which  covered  everything  else.  Nine 
days  we  lay  here  in  an  almost  continuous  snow-storm. 
Then  at  daylight  of  the  20th  Jackman  drove  the 
Eagle  out  in  the  teeth  of  a  north-east  snow-storm,  and 
squared  away  for  Eglinton  Fjord.  As  the  day  ad- 
vanced, the  land  came  gradually  out  from  the  clouds 
on  our  starboard  bow,  and  gave  a  view  of  the  bold 
headland  of  Cape  Adair,  in  the  rear  of  which  is  a 
high  conical  peak  very  conspicuous  to  the  north. 
The  peaks  north-west  of  this  have  also  a  tendency  to 
the  conical  form.  Later,  Scott  Inlet  showed  out  in 
sharp  relief  against  a  ghastly  background,  its  vertical 
black  walls  reaching  far  inland  among  the  mountains. 
Scott  Island,  at  the  entrance,  is  a  giant  fortress,  with 
vertical  walls  1500  feet  high,  smooth  and  true  as  if 
laid  by  masons. 

Reaching  Eglinton,  we  headed  across  for  Ravens- 
craig  Harbour  on  the  south  side.  The  shore  here  is 
solid  rock,  with  not  a  boulder,  pebble,  or  grain  of  sand 
along  its  entire  wave-worn  extent.  In  the  harbour 
were  three  whalers,  the  Escjitniian.w  Active,  and  Nova 
Zeinbla,  and  as  night  descended  the  Eagle  dropped 
her  anchor  among  them. 

Ravenscraig  Harbour  is  one  of  the  finest  on  this 
whole  coast,  a  narrow  deep-water  inlet,  making  south 


Reconnaissance  of  1886 


29 


several  miles  into  the  land.      The  next  day  the  Terra 
Nova  came  in,  and  here  the  tleet  made  its  rendezvous 
for  the   next   ten   days,   sending   boats   out   daily    to 
cruise  for  whales.      With   thirty  boats    darting  back 
and   forth    over  its    surface,   the    fjord  presented  an 
animated   appearance.      If  the   wind  was  favourable, 
the  ships  themselves  stood  out  under  canvas  (whal- 
ers never  using  their  propellers  when  in  the  vicinity 
of  whales),  anct  reached  back  and  forth  off  the  mouth 
of  the  fjord.      While  here  ten   bears  were  killed  by 
the  various  ships,  and 
one   day   the  Eagle  s 
boats  came    in    with 
the     skins     of      two 
w'^hich   they  had  har- 
pooned in  the  w^ater. 
It     had    taken     the 
united  efforts  of  three 
boats'  crews  to  keep 
one   of   these  power- 
ful brutes  from  climb- 
ing into  the  boat  and 
wreaking    vengeance 
for     the     murderous 
thrust    of  the    steel. 
On  the    last    day  of 
September    we  steamed   south    to    Bute    Island    on 
the  south  side    of  the  Clyde.      The  coast  from   Eg- 
linton  to  the  Clyde  looks  like  the  side  of  a  long,  deep 
railway   cut.      The  next   afternoon    we    made    Kater 
Head  (of  the  whalers — Cape   Raper  of  the   charts). 
Here  we  found  the  Polynia,  Terra  Nova,  and  Esqui- 
maiix,  and  along  this  coast  from  Kater  Head  to  Cape 
Kater  we  put  in  ten  days.      During  this  time  it  was 
snowing  almost    constantly,   and    young    ice    formed 
wherever  the  lee  of  a  projecting  point,  or  stream  of 


CLIFF  VIEW  AT  ATANEKERDLUK. 


3©  Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

old  ice,  made  calm  water.  One  forenoon  the  barom- 
eter dropped  rapidly,  and  in  the  afternoon  the  snow 
ceased,  the  clouds  lifted,  and  a  tremendous  swell 
came  rolling  in  from  the  south-east.  Not  a  breath  of 
wind  disturbed  the  surface  as  the  long,  lazy  swells, 
smoothed  by  the  pressure  of  the  ice  through  which 
they  had  passed,  came  slipping  noiselessly  in,  lift- 
ing and  dropping  the  huge  bergs  as  if  they  were  but 
corks,  and  then,  with  clouds  of  dark  smoke  streaming 
from  their  crests  and  with  great  cakes  of  blue  ice 
borne  upon  their  shoulders,  dashed  up  the  long 
shoal  south-west  of  Kater  Head,  and  fell  upon  the 
rocks  in  vibrating  thunders  of  foam  and  shattered  ice. 
At  sunset  the  western  mountains  stood  intense  blue 
steel  between  flaming  sky  and  sea,  and  then  the  stars 
came  forth  like  flashing  brilliants,  the  Milky  Way  ri- 
valled the  Aurora  in  brightness,  and  the  wind  howled 
like  mad  devils  throuo^h  the  ritfsjincr.  lust  the  out- 
skirts  of  an  arctic  hurricane  sweeping  through  the 
straits  had  reached  us. 

October  8th  I  saw  my  first  whale, — in  fact  it  was  the 
first  seen  from  the  Eao/c  for  the  season.  The  biof 
black  brute  was  playing  in  a  little  opening  in  the 
pack  close  to  a  berg,  and  as  he  stood  on  his  head 
with  his  tail  and  nearly  half  his  body  thrown  into  the 
air  against  the  white  backoround  of  the  bero-,  the 
huge  tail  thrashing  the  water  into  columns  of  spray, 
it  looked  as  if  it  would  reach  the  Eagle  s  main-yard. 
After  a  few  minutes'  play,  he  came  out  and  started 
south,  and  though  each  ship  in  turn  made  for  him  as  he 
passed,  he  was  too  knowing  or  had  too  pressing  busi- 
ness, for  he  gave  none  of  them  a  chance.  At  Kater 
Head  a  number  of  the  natives  of  this  coast  came  on 
board.  One  family,  consisting  of  a  widow  with  one 
grown  and  one  younger  son  and  one  married  daughter 
with   her  baby,  were  comparatively  clean  and  intelli- 


Reconnaissance  of  1886 


gent-looking.  The  old  lady  was  tattooed  with  lines 
curving  from  the  bridge  of  the  nose  upward  over  the 
eyes,  and  also  three  lines  on  each  side  from  the  nos- 
trils across  the  cheeks  back  to  the  ears.  The  daughter 
had  a  pleasant  and  even  pretty  face,  with  dark-brown 
eyes,  and  a  ruddy  glow  to  her  cheeks.  She  had  on 
the  peculiar  "  cummings"  (long-legged  sealskin  boots) 
with  huge  pouches  on  the  outside,  worn  by  the  women 
of  this  tribe.  The  hang  of  these  about  the  knees  re- 
minded me  of 
trousers  worn 
by  Turkish  wo- 
men. The  baby 
was  complete- 
ly cased  in  mot- 
tled fawn-skin 
except  its  face 
and  hands,  and 
when  removed 
from  the  depths 
of  his  mother's 
hood  for  re- 
freshments, re- 
minded me  of 
nothing  so 
much  as  a 
chicken  just 
out  of  the  eggshell.  The  boys  were  both  big  open- 
faced,  intelligent-looking  fellows. 

On  the  morning  of  the  loth,  all  the  ships  had  a 
heavy  belt  of  ice  at  and  above  the  water-line,  and  the 
thickness  of  young  ice  everywhere  precluded  further 
stay  in  that  locality.  In  the  afternoon  the  Eagle 
headed  south  again.  At  midnight  we  ran  into  the 
ice-pack  north  of  Cape  Hooper,  and  the  next  day  in 
this  ice  three  bears  were  shot  by  Jackman  and  myself 


THE  GORGE  AT  ATANEKERDLUK. 

Showing  the  Stratification.  One  of  the  Rich  Fossil 
Beds  is  just  at  the  Left  of  the  Place  Shown  in  the 
Picture. 


32         Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

from  the  ship.  There  is  but  httle  of  the  excitement 
of  danger  in  this  sport,  but  there  is  an  excitement  in 
being-  driven  througli  the  ice,  and  kept  in  range  of 
the  big  game,  by  such  a  quivering,  powerful  steed  as 
one  of  these  whalers.  The  ice  was  heavy  enough  so 
that  the  Eagle  at  her  best  could  barely  keep  up  with  the 
bears,  and  what  with  the  constant  jumping  and  trem- 
bling of  the  vessel  as  she  struck  the  solid  pans,  and 
the  motion  of  the  bears  as  they  leaped  from  piece  to 
piece,  ran  behind  hummocks,  and  plunged  into  the 
wider  lanes  of  water,  we  usually  burned  several  car- 
tridges apiece  before  the  bear  dropped.  There  was 
never  any  uncertainty  as  to  whether  a  bullet  reached 
the  mark  or  not,  everyone  that  struck  being  followed 
by  a  savage  snap  at  the  wound.  One  of  the  bears,  as 
he  started  to  canter  away,  received  a  bullet  from  my 
Winchester  through  his  hind  foot,  eliciting  a  bite  and 
a  double-barrelled  kick,  and  accelerating  his  speed  ; 
another  from  the  Captain  tlirough  the  other  foot  elic- 
ited another  bite  and  kick  ;  then  followed  several  in- 
effective shots,  and  he  took  to  the  water ;  here  I  got 
a  bullet  in  his  head  which  staggered  him,  and  as  he 
was  attempting  to  climb  out  on  the  ice,  another  in  the 
base  of  the  skull  tumbled  him  over,  an  inert  mass.  He 
was  a  gaunt  old  fellow,  without  an  ounce  of  fat  on  him, 
with  a  magnificent  head  and  set  of  ivories,  and  arms 
that  would  be  worth  a  fortune  to  a  prize-fighter. 

Shortly  after  noon  of  the  13th,  the  Eagle  drove 
through  the  compacted  edge  of  the  pack,  and  entered 
the  dark  wind-tossed,  ice-free  waters  of  the  Strait, 
off  Cape  Walsingham. 

The  next  afternoon  we  were  caught  by  an  arctic 
hurricane,  before  which  the  snow  drove  in  level  sheets 
across  the  deck,  and  a  frightful  sea  arose,  with  inde- 
scribable rapidity.  We  ran  before  it  till  all  the  whaling- 
gear  was  passed  from  the  boats  down  into  the  hold,  to- 


34 


Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 


gether  with  everythin*^  movable  on  deck,  the  boats 
themselves  double-lashed,  hatches  battened  down, 
and  extra  gaskets  on  the  sails.  Then  with  braces 
manned  by  the  entire  crew,  and  three  men  lashed  at 
the  wheel,  the  old  ship  was  ready  to  round  to  into 
the  teeth  of  the  storm.  Clinging  to  the  weather  end 
of  the  bridge,  with  everything  except  our  eyes  cased 

in  the  snow,  stood  Jack- 
man  and  myself,  watch- 
ing the  mad  seas  which 
came  tumbling  after  us 
through  the  blinding 
drift.  For  a  few  mo- 
ments, there  was  utter 
silence  as  to  human 
sounds.  Then  a  green 
monster  Hung  the 
Edo/c's  stern  high  in  the 
air,  poured  over  the 
taffrail,  burst  through 
the  propeller  trunk,  and 
passed  ahead.  "Let  her 
iOJiicf" — a  jump  to  the 
engine-room  signal,  the 
wheel  flew  round,  the 
braces  eased  off,  and, 
urgedby  propeller,  sails, 
and  rudder,  the  /uio/c 
whirled  like  a  top,  rose  to  a  second  grey-green  mon- 
ster, climbed  through  its  top,  and  plunged  down  its 
rearward  slope.  The  foreyard  cockbilled  with  a  loud 
crash,  the  foretopsail  flew  out  with  a  report  like  a 
piece  of  artillery,  then  split  in  thrashing  streamers, 
and  then  with  sails  of  iron  straining  at  the  sheets  till 
they  were  like  the  slant,  half-closed  wings  of  her  swoop- 
ing namesake,  the  Eagle  heeled  over  to  the  hurricane, 


CAPTAIN  ARTHUR  JACKMAN 
OF   THE   ■'  EAGLE." 


c 

2 
3 
C 
(/] 

Q 
Z 
< 

J 

a. 

Id 

n 

•s. 

3 
o 

c 

z 

u 
a: 

G 

X 
o 

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z 
< 

z 

u 

o 


36  Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

and,  with  lee-rail  under  water,  "  lay  to."  A  little  later, 
the  lee  side  was  swept  clear  of  boats,  davits,  and 
stanchions  ;  then  a  vicious  sea  stove  the  weather  bul- 
warks, and  water  came  pouring  down  the  companion- 
way,  setting  everything  in  the  cabin  afloat.  Just 
before  dark,  a  piercing  cry  of  "  Ice  !"  came  from  the 
lookout  forward,  and  there,  in  the  troutrh  ahead,  wal- 
lowed  a  huge  blue,  nearly  submerged  mass.  As  the 
Eagle  plunged  down  upon  it,  it  seemed  from  the  bridge 
as  if  her  jib-boom  cleared  by  scarcely  a  foot,  then  she 
answered  her  helm,  fell  off,  and  sheered  by  it.  For  a 
moment,  hurled  aloft  on  the  crest  of  a  wave,  it  swung 
high  above  her  quarter  as  she  scraped  past,  then  a  bub- 
bling whirlpool,  and  a  glimmer  of  blue  beneath  the 
Eagles  stern,  showed  where  it  had  plunged  beneath 
the  surface.  Then  the  blackest  of  nights  fell  on  us, 
as  we  stood  out  into  the  Strait.  At  midnight  the  snow 
had  ceased,  the  moon  was  shining  brightly,  and  the 
Eaolc  ridintr  easily  on  the  subsidinsr  waves.  Comingf 
about  in  the  morning,  we  steamed  for  the  American 
whaling  station  in  Cumberland  .Sound,  where  we  lay 
at  anchor  si.\teen  days.  Then  on  the  ist  of  Novem- 
ber we  hoisted  anchor  and  for  twenty-four  hours 
fought  our  way  out  through  heavy  young  ice.  The 
brave  old  ship,  staggering  and  quivering  from  keel 
to  truck,  rammed  and  fought  her  way  through  the 
tough,  rapidly  hardening  pack,  in  her  struggle  to 
escape  imprisonment  for  the  winter.  This  battle  with 
the  ice  was  very  different  from  those  on  the  upward 
voyage  in  June.  Then,  it  was  the  quick  smashing 
work  of  a  powerful  and  accomplished  fighter.  Now, 
it  was  the  steady,  killing  pull  of  a  giant,  straining  at 
a  load  which  he  could  barely  move. 

Two  days  were  passed  in  the  shelter  of  Field  Bay, 
and  then  our  course  was  resumed  south  again,  and  all 
night  long,  with  engines  throbbing  at  full  speed,  with 


Upward  Voyoee  of  EAOLE 
Ice  Cap  J(uute 
. Return  Vujace  of  EAGLi: 


91322 


38         Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

every  sail  black  against  the  southern  moon,  with 
black  masts  swaying  to  and  fro  among  the  stars,  the 
Eagle  went  racing  southward  across  the  Strait  of 
Hudson,  beneath  the  blazing  curtain  of  a  magnificent 
aurora. 

At  first  the  aurora  extended,  in  a  brilliant  white, 
waving  curtain,  north  and  south  across  the  Strait,  its 
bottom  seeminCT  to  brush  the  mast-heads.  Then  the 
curtain  disappeared,  and  scurrying  wreaths  and 
streams  of  pale  amorphous  light  came  rushing  north- 
ward over  the  ship,  and,  forming  in  serpentine  folds, 
waved  and  fluttered,  waxed  and  waned,  separated  and 
ran  together  again,  with  a  rapid,  fluttering  motion, 
which  I  can  compare  only  to  the  rapid  opening  and 
shutting  of  a  Japanese  fan  ;  and  finally,  agitated  by 
some  ghostly  whirlwind,  till  every  fold  shot  green  and 
gold  and  violet  and  crimson  flames,  they  broke  in 
flying  fragments,  and  dissolved  into  faint,  luminous 
clouds. 

After  this,  a  week  of  head-winds  and  storms,  driv- 
ing mists,  snow,  and  a  waste  of  mad  grey-green  waves, 
sometimes  lighted,  for  a  moment,  by  bursts  of  pale 
November  sunlight,  was  passed  along  the  Labrador 
coast.  On  the  i  7th  of  November  the  Eagle  steamed 
into  the  harbour  of  .St.  John's,  and  my  first  arctic  voy- 
age was  at  an  end.  But  the  northern  bacilli  were  in 
my  system,  the  arctic  fever  in  my  veins,  never  to  be 
eradicated. 


OBJECTS  AND   RESULTS  OF  1886  RECON- 
NAISSANCE. 

OBJECTS. 

"  To  gain  a  practical  knoivkdgc  of  the  obstacles  and  ice  con- 
ditions of  the  interior  of  Greenland ;  to  put  to  the  test  of 
actual  use  certain  methods  and  details  of  equipment ;  to  make 
such  scientific  observations  as  may  be  practicable ;  and  to 
push  into  the  interior  as  far  as  possible."  ' 

RESULTS. 

Attainment  of  greater  elevation  than  ever  before  reached  on 
the  Inland  Ice. 

Penetration  a  greater  distance  than  any  white  man  pre- 
viously. 

Attainment  for  first  time  of  the  real  interior  plateau  of 
unchanging  snou>. 

Determinatioti  of  ruling  characteristics  of  the  Inland  Ice 
from  border  to  interior.  (See  article  in  ^'■Bulletin  Ain.  Geog. 
Soc."  No.  3,  1887,//.  286-88.  j 

Securing  of  an  in-valuable  fund  of  defi?iite  practical  knowl- 
edge and  experience  of  actual  ice-cap  conditions  and  necessary 
equipment,  as  'well  as  practical  knowledge  of  arctic  navigation 
and  a  familiarity  'with  a  considerable  extent  of  the  arctic 
coasts. 

Inception  of  ideas  of  pronounced  future  value,  as  odometer, 
sails,  etc. 

The  folloiving  deductions  ^  .• 

'  Paper  read  before  National  Academy  of  Sciences,  at  Washington,  April  23, 
1886, 

"  Bull.  Am.  Gcog.  Soc,  No.  3,  1887,  pp.  288,  289. 

39 


40 


Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice 


Attacks  upon  the  Inland  Ice  should  be  made  at  a  point  as 

far  above  level  of  sea  as 
possible,  and  ivhere  the  pres- 
ence of  large  and  rapidly 
discharging  glaciers  indi- 
cates a  rcipid  ascent  to  high 
elevation  in  close  proximity 
to  coast. 

Party  should  be  small  and 
thoroughly  accustomed  to 
snozu-shoes  and  ski. 

Surface  of  Inland  Ice 
offers  imperial  highway  to 
East  Coast,  and,  in  case  the 
ice-cap  is  coextensive  tvith 
the  land,  to  the  northern 
terminus  of  Greenland. 

Proposal  of  the  folhnving 
prophetic  routes  : 

"  From  base  of  Noursoak 
Peninsula  to  head  of  Franz 
Joseph    Fjord,    and   return. 

{A) 

"From  Whale  Sound  to 
northern  terminus  of  Green- 
land or  intersection  of  ice- 
cap with  East  Coast. '  {B) 
This  route  tJiC'  key  to  the 
Greenland  Problem. 

"  From  Disco  Bay  to  Cape 
Dan."  '  {D) 

'  This  route  actually  covered  by 
me  in  1892. 

'  This  route  utilised  by  Nansen  in 
188S.     (£) 


PART  II. 

NORTH    GREENLAND    EXPEDITION    OF    1891-1892. 

CHAPTER  I. 

BROOKLYN    TO    MCCORMICK    BAY. 

Starting  from  Brooklyn — East  River  Steamboats  Whistle  their 
Adieus— My  Heavy-Laden  Barkentine — Purposes  of  the  North  Green- 
land Expedition — Its  Personnel  and  Equipment — Our  Companions  on 
the  Voyage — Stopped  by  Ice  in  the  Strait  of  Belle  Isle — Greenland's 
Grand  Mountains  Come  into  View— Our  First  Field  Day  in  the  Arctic 
Regions — A  Panoramic  Survey  of  Mountains,  Fjords,  Glaciers,  Ice- 
bergs, and  Sea— Caught  in  the  Ice  of  Melville  Bay — Three  Weeks 
Battling  with  the  Pack — A  Broken  Leg — The  North  Water  Reached 
at  Last — We  Meet  the  Arctic  Highlanders— The  Site  Selected  for 
our  North  Greenland  Home. 


ASTRUP. 


HENSON. 


CHAPTER    I. 


BROOKLVX    TO    MCCORMICK    BAY. 


T 


H  E  last  boxL's  and 
parcels  were  finally 
stowed  awa)'  on  my 
little  barkentine.  At  five 
in  the  afternoon  of  June 
6,  1 89 1,  the  Kite  cast  off 
from  the  foot  of  Baltic 
Street,  Brooklyn,  and 
swung  out  into  the  East 
River.  Genial  sunlight 
illumined  the  faces  of  a 
crowd  o  f  friends  and 
sightseers,  waving  adieus  from  the  end  of  the  pier. 
We  were  fairly  off  for  North  Greenland,  and  every 
ferryboat  and  steamer  in  the  crowded  East  River  knew 
it.  Scores  of  whistles  bade  us  good-bye  and  bon 
voyage.  All  the  way  up  the  East  River  dipping  Hags 
rave  us  hail  and  farewell.  The  fleet  of  bio-  Sound 
steamers  passed  us  one  by  one,  whistles  saluting  and 
decks  crowded  with  passengers  waving  handkerchiefs. 
At  Flushing,  and  other  points,  many  yachts  saluted 
with  their  guns  ;  and  it  was  not  until  night  hid  us 
that  the  inspiring  God-speeds  of  our  friends  and  well- 
wishers  were  heard  no  more.  Our  little  world,  very 
much  cramped  for  elbow-room,  for  every  inch  of  space 

43 


44         Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

below  deck  was    filled,    and   the   deck   itself  hidden 
under  my  equipment,  was  left  to  itself  at  last. 

Sixteen  persons  comprised  the  passenger  list  of  the 
little  Kite.     Seven   of    them  were    members    of    my 


CAPTAIN  RICHARD   PIKE  OF  THE   "KITE." 

North  Greenland  Expedition,  while  nine  formed  the 
scientific  party  sent  out  by  the  Academy  of  Natural 
Sciences,  Philadelphia,  to  accompany  me  to  my  desti- 
nation, and  then  make  such  investigations  in  their 
scientific  specialties  as  time  permitted  before  the  Kite 


Brooklyn  to  McCormick  Bay  45 

returned  home.  This  party  was  known  as  the  West 
Greenland  Expedition. 

I  had  Hmited  my  own  party  to  the  number  of  men 
absokitely  required  for  the  work  I  proposed  to  do. 
The  day  of  large  expeditions  in  successful  arctic  ex- 
ploration I  believed  had  gone  by.  The  great  work 
of  the  future,  like  much  of  that  of  the  past,  will  be 
done  by  very  small  parties.'  Believing  that  every 
man  beyond  the  number  absolutely  essential  is  an 
element  of  danger  and  failure,  I  had  selected  from 
the  hundreds  of  applicants,  whose  letters  had  been 
pouring  in  for  months,  only  five  men  to  share  my  fort- 
unes. They  were  all  young,  and,  in  addition  to  pos- 
sessing first-class  physique  and  perfect  health,  were 
men  of  education  and  attainments.  I  believe  this  to 
be  the  type  of  man  best  fitted  to  endure  with  mini- 
mum unfavourable  effect  the  ordeal  of  the  arctic 
winter,  and  to  effectively  execute  a  two  or  three 
months'  dash  on  sledges,  where  intelligent  will- 
power, youthful  elasticity,  and  enthusiasm  rise  su- 
perior to  the  stolid  endurance  of  muscles  hardened 
by  years  of  work.      My  assistants  were  : 

Frederick  A.  Cook,  M.D.,  the  surgeon  and  ethno- 
logist of  the  expedition,  a  young  physician  and  sur- 
geon, a  native  of  New  York  State,  a  graduate  of  the 
College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons,  and  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  the  City  of  New  York.  He  had  been 
practising  his  profession  in  New  York  City  for  sev- 
eral years.      He  was  twenty-six  years  old. 

Langdon  Gibson,  of  Flushing,  L.  I.,  my  ornitho- 
logist and  chief  hunter,  a  stalwart  young  hunter  of 

'  Schwatk.i's  great  sledge  journey  was  made  with  four  white  men  and  an 
Eskimo.  Captain  Holm's  party  to  East  Greenland  numbered  four.  Payer,  in 
Franz  Josef  Land,  started  with  seven,  but,  finding  this  number  cumbrous,  he 
left  four  and  pushed  ahead  with  two.  The  e.\plnrations  of  the  Greely  Expe- 
dition were  made  by  parties  of  three  men.  Hall's  earlier  explorations  and 
Graah's  journey  along  the  east  coast  of  Greenland  are  striking  examples  of  the 
success  that  may  attend  the  efforts  of  one  resolute  man  in  arctic  exploration. 


46 


Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice 


twenty-six,  a  member  of  the  American  Ornithologists' 
Union.  He  was  one  of  the  Brown-Stanton  party  in 
the  Colorado  Canon  survey  of   1889-90. 


CHIEF   ENGINEER  JARDINE,  2d  ENGINEER   McKINLEY.   AND 
"BOSUN"     DUNPHY. 

Eivind  Astrup  of  Christiania,  Norway,  twenty  years 
old,  was  a  stalwart  young  fellow  who  had  but  recently 
come  to  the  United  States.  The  son  of  the  Com- 
mander of  the  Royal  Civil  Guard  of  Christiania,  he 
was  a  first-class  graduate  of  the  Christiania  Commer- 
cial College,  and  a  winner  of  numerous  prizes  in  ath- 
letic sports,  especially  ski-running. 

John  M.  Verhoeff,  of  Louisville,  Ky.,  my  mineral- 
ogist and  meteorologist,  was  twenty-five  years  old,  and 
educated  in  an  Eastern  university.  Mr.  Verhoeff 
contributed  generously  to  the  expenses  of  the  expe- 
dition. 

Matthew  Henson,  my  body-servant,  a  hardy  col- 
oured man,  was  a  native  of  Virginia,  twenty-three  years 


Brooklyn  to  McCormick  Bay 


47 


old.  His  intelligence  and  faithfulness,  combined  with 
more  than  average  pluck  and  endurance,  as  shown 
during  several  years  that  he  had  been  with  me  through 
varying  experiences,  part  of  the  time  in  Nicaraguan 
jungles,  led  me  to  regard  him  as  a  valuable  member 
of  the  party. 

Mrs.  Peary  accompanied  the  party.  Possessed  of 
health,  youth,  energy,  and  enthusiastic  interest  in  the 
work,  she  saw  no  reason  why  she  could  not  endure 
conditions  and  environment  similar  to  those  in  which 
Danish  wives  in  Greenland  pass  years  of  their  life. 
I  concurred  in  this  opinion,  and  believed  that  in  many 
ways  her  presence  and  assistance  would  contribute  to 
the  valuable  results  of  the  expedition,  as  they  were 
invaluable  to  me  in  the  preparation.  Events  proved 
the  entire  correctness  of  this  belief. 


TIM. 


Both  the   North  Greenland  and  West  Greenland 
Expeditions  were  under  my  command  until  the  for- 


48         Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

mer  was  landed  at  its  winter  quarters  in  McCormick 
Bay.  The  West  Greenland  Expedition  then  began 
its  distinctive  work  under  command  of  Prof.  Angelo 
Heilprin,  Executor  Curator  of  the  Academy  of  Nat- 
ural Sciences.  Philadelphia,  and  a  geologist  of  in- 
ternational reputation.  Associated  with  Professor 
Heilprin,  were  :  Prof.  Benjamin  Sharp,  zoologist  in 
charge  ;  Prof.  J.  F.  Holt,  zoologist ;  Dr.  William  E. 
Hughes,  ornithologist;  Mr.  Levi  W.  Mengel,  ento- 
mologist ;  Dr.  William  H.  Burk,  botanist  ;  Mr. 
Alexander  C.  Kenealy,  a  reporter  for  the  New  York 
Herald ;  Dr.  Robert  N.  Keely,  Jr.,  surgeon;  and 
Mr.  Erazer  Ashhurst. 

The  master  of  the  Kiti\  a  steam  sealer  of  280  tons, 
was  the  late  Captain  Richard  Pike,  a  famous  arctic 
skipper  and  one  of  the  best  of  ice  navigators.  His 
death,  in  the  spring  of  1893,  was  widely  regretted. 
As  commander  of  the  Protcits,  he  took  Lieutenant 
Greely's  Expedition,  in  1881,  to  Lady  Franklin  Bay. 
On  that  occasion,  Captain  Pike  made  a  phenomenally 
rapid  run  up  Smith  Sound  to  the  site  of  Lieutenant 
Greely's  camp.  Two  years  later.  Captain  Pike  was  in 
command  of  the  Proteus  when  Lieutenant  Garlington 
attempted  to  relieve  Greely  ;  and  after  the  vessel  was 
crushed  in  the  ice  near  Cape  Sabine,  he  retreated  with 
his  crew  in  open  whale-boats  across  Melville  Bay  to 
Upernavik. 

Captain  Pike  and  his  crew  numbered  fifteen  per- 
sons, making  a  total  of  thirty-one  souls  who  had  to 
be  packed  away  in  the  very  snuggest  of  quarters  in 
the  cabin  berths,  deck-house,  and  forecastle.  The 
Kite  was  a  staunch,  strong  vessel  well  adapted  for 
the  voyage,  with  a  steaming  power  of  seven  knots. 
She  had  been  thoroughly  overhauled  and  additional 
cabin  accommodations  put  into  her  for  my  party. 

The  question  of    my  food  supplies,  clothing,  and 


Brooklyn  to  McCormick  Bay 


49 


other  equipment,  and  scientific  outfit,  had  been  the 
subject  of  long  study  and  careful  digestion  of  the 
experience  of  my  predecessors. 


COD-FISHING   IN  STRAIT  OF   BELLE  ISLE. 

My  equipment  was  one  of  the  most  modest  and  in- 
expensive ever  taken  to  the  "  White  North."  Vet 
nothing  was  omitted  that  was  essential  to  our  comfort 
or  success. 

The  food  supply  differed  little  from  that  of  the  later 
arctic  e.xpeditions.  I  had  a  year  and  a  half's  sup- 
plies ;  with  tea,  coffee,  sugar,  and  milk  in  sufficient 
quantity  to  last  two  and  a  half  years.  I  took  little 
meat  except  pemmican  for  the  ice-cap  journey,  as  I 
expected    to   secure  an   abundance   of    reindeer    and 


50         Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

other  fresh  meat  at  my  winter  camp.  Evaporated 
vegetables  in  large  variety,  and  beef-meal,  pemmican, 
and  cocoa  tablets  had  been  prepared  expressly  for  the 
expedition. 

I  carried  lumber  for  a  12  x  20  feet  house.  I  had  two 
whale-boats,  Mary  Peary  and  Faith,^  built  expressly  for 
the  expedition.  The  former  was  named  JMary  Peary, 
after  the  mother  to  whom  I  owe  so  much  ;  the  latter. 
Faith,  after  the  sturdy  boat  which  thirty  years  ago 
brought  Dr.  Kane  and  his  brave  companions  back  to 
friends  and  civilisation,  past  the  same  cliffs  and  bays 
that  were  to  know  this  new  Faith. 

I  took  the  two  sledges  used  by  me  in  my  recon- 
naissance of  the  Inland  Ice  in  1886,  and  an  ample  sup- 
ply of  timber  for  making  new  ones. 

Other  important  items  were  Indian  snow-shoes, 
Norwegian  ski,  moccasins  and  rubber  ice-creepers,  al- 
cohol stoves,  and  an  abundance  of  woollen  clothing. 
For  my  fur  clothing,  as  for  my  meat  supply,  1  de- 
pended upon  the  region  about  my  headquarters. 

My  firearms  consisted  of  Winchester  44-calibre  re- 
peating carbines,  45-calibre  repeating  riHes,  Winches- 
ter repeating  shot-guns  10  gauge,  a  Daly  3-barrel  gun, 
shot  barrels  10  gauge,  rifle  barrel  45  calibre.  Am- 
munition consisted  of  one  size  shells  and  two  sizes 
rifle  cartridges. 

My  surveying  outfit  comprised  one  small  theodolite, 
arranged  expressly  by  Fauth  &  Co.,  of  Washington, 
w^ith  prismatic  eyepiece  and  coloured  glasses  ;  one  7- 
inch  sextant  with  artificial  horizon  and  extra  mercury  ; 
a  pocket  sextant  ;  three  pocket  chronometers,  made 
expressly  for  me  by  the  Howard  Watch  Co.,  of  Bos- 

'  One  of  them,  built  by  S.  H.  Mitchell,  of  New  Bedford,  was  28  feet  long,  6 
feet  beam,  and  28  inches  deep  amidships,  weighing  about  1000  pounds  and 
carrying  one  sprit-sail  and  a  large  jib.  The  other,  built  by  Reeves  &  Comstock, 
of  New  London,  Conn.,  was  28  feet  long,  5  feet  beam,  and  24  inches  deep, 
weighing  600  pounds.     It  had  two  masts  (sliding  Gunter  rig). 


Brooklyn  to  McCormick  Bay 


51 


ton  ;  several  compasses  of  different  varieties  ;  five 
aneroid  barometers  ;  a  boiling-point  apparatus  ;  steel 
tapes,  odometers,  and  field-glasses. 

For  meteorological  work  I  had  a  mercurial  baro- 
meter, hydrometer,  and  several  sets  maximum  and 
minimum  thermometers  ;  several  special  minimum 
thermometers,  a  number  of  ordinary  mercurial  ther- 
mometers, a  deep-sea  thermometer,  and  an  anemo- 
meter. 


DECK  SCENE  AFTER  HEAVY  WEATHER. 

My  photographic  outfit  consisted  of  Eastman  No. 
4  kodaks  and  films,  made  expressly  for  me  by  the 
Eastman  Company. 

Miscellaneous  items  were  navy-blue  lights  and  sig- 
nals, rockets,  burning-glasses,  fiint  and  steel,  pocket 
lamps,  and  many  other  articles  too  insignificant  to 
mention,   yet   of  importance   in   a  region   where   not 


52 


Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 


even  a  piece  of   string  or  a   paper  of    pins    can    be 
obtained. 

On  June  iith,  the  fifth  day  out  from  New  York, 
we  steamed  into  Sydney  harbour,  and  while  the  crew 
spent  a  day  filling  the  coal-bunkers,  the  members  of 
the  two  expeditions  enjoyed  to   the  utmost  their  last 


MRS.  PEARY  AND  GROUP  OF  DANISH-ESKIMO  WOMEN  AT  GODHAVN. 

day  in  civilisation.  By  Friday  evening,  the  12th  inst., 
180  tons  of  coal  from  the  Cape  Breton  mines  had 
been  taken  aboard,  eivino-  us  over  three  hunderd  tons 


Brooklyn  to  McCormick  Bay  53 

in  the  bunkers  and  hokl  and  on  deck.  Then,  with  a 
last  glance  at  the  hills  around  the  bay,  only  recently 
reclad  with  verdure  by  the  awakening  touch  of  spring, 
we  put  to  sea,  and  headed  northward  across  the  Gulf 
of  St.  Lawrence  for  the  Strait  of  Belle  Isle.  It  was 
lightning  sharply  astern,  and  by  noon  next  da)'  the 
erowintr  wind  had  risen  to  a  afale,  and  life  became 
a  burden  to  the  poor  sailors  in  our  party.  The  little 
Kite,  however,  proved  herself  a  good  sea  boat.  Her 
waist  and  a  part  of  her  quarter-deck  were  filled  to  the 
rail  with  coal,  and  the  rest  of  the  deck  was  packed 
full  of  trunks,  boxes,  and  barrels.  But  in  spite  of  her 
heavy  load  she  rode  much  easier  than  was  to  be  ex- 
pected. During  Saturday  night  the  sea  went  down, 
and  Sunday  was  comparatively  pleasant.  Steaming 
alone  the  west  coast  of  Newfoundland,  we  could  see 
now  and  then,  through  rifts  in  the  fog,  the  snow- 
streaked  mountain  sides.  At  Sydney,  the  Strait  of 
Belle  Isle  was  reported  to  be  free  of  ice,  but  early 
Monday  morning,  just  within  the  Strait,  we  ran  into 
pack-ice,  and  the  members  of  my  party  had  their  first 
experience  of  this  common  phase  of  arctic  navigation. 
This  occurrence  of  heavy  arctic  ice  in  the  Strait  of 
Belle  Isle,  choking  it  from  end  to  end,  was  unpreced- 
ented for  this  time  of  year.  The  ice-pans  rose  and 
fell  with  the  undulations  of  the  sea,  and  the  rhythmic 
roar  of  the  white  pack's  heaving  edge  was  grander  than 
any  surf  upon  the  shore.  The  cakes  were  from  five  to 
one  hundred  feet  in  diameter,  and  from  one  to  eight 
feet  thick,  some  tiny  pinnacles  rising  from  eight  to 
ten  feet.  As  we  moved  back  and  forth  along  the  ice 
edge,  vainly  seeking  a  lead  that  would  take  us  north, 
we  secured  fine  views  of  the  grim  shores  of  New- 
foundland and  Labrador.  .Some  Newfoundland  fish- 
ermen put  off  to  us  in  boats  to  tell  us  of  their  sore 
straits,  for  many  were  ill  in  their  settlement.      They 


54 


Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 


had  no  medicines,  and  no  ship  had  visited  them  for 
many  months.  We  gave  them  medicines,  and  letters 
for  our  friends. 

Impatient  of  delay   as   I   was,   I   still  enjoyed  the 
novel  situation.      When  the  Kite,  tired  of  hunting  for 

a  lead,  anchored  now  and 
then  to  a  floe,  we  fished 
and  photographed,  or 
got  out  our  ski  and 
snow-shoes  and  had  a  lit- 
tle practice.  We  caught 
four  hundred  pounds  of 
fine  codfish,  and  salted 
down  a  barrel  for  our 
North-Greenland  larder. 
Myriads  of  looms,  kitti- 
wakes,  herring  gulls,  and 
seals  gave  life  and  move- 
ment to  the  scene.  .Scen- 
ic splendours  were  not 
wanting.  On  Monday 
night  we  enjoyed  an  ex- 
quisite sunset.  A  mir- 
ror-like sea  reflected  the 
rosy  glories  of  the  west- 
ern sky,  and  the  Labra- 
dor coast  was  purple  as 
amethyst.  Ice,  fantastic- 
ally carved,  floated  all 
around  us,  and  the  still- 
ness was  broken  by  cries  of  gulls  and  puffing  of  whales. 
During  five  days  we  struggled  with  the  ice,  forcing 
ahead  a  few  miles,  only  to  be  caught  and  drifted  back 
again.  At  last,  Friday  afternoon,  we  felt  the  swell  of 
the  open  sea  again,  and  crowding  on  all  steam  and  sail, 
were  soon  free,  and  bowling  along  at  an  eight-knot  pace. 


CLIMBING  THE  GODHAVN  CLIFFS. 


Brooklyn  to  McCormick  Bay 


55 


As  we  passed  Belle-Isle  lights,  the  keepers  ran  up 
the  British  flag  to  shew  that  they  saw  us,  and  per- 
haps in  greeting  to  the  first  vessel  they  had  seen  that 
year.  We  came  out  of  Belle  Isle  Strait,  our  faces 
burned  as  with  tropical  suns  by  the  blinding  glare 
from  snow-covered  ice-fields. 

The  next  five  days  were  a  time  of  stress  and  storm 
for  the  little  Kite.  On  Tuesday  morning  she  had  to 
lay-to  several  hours,  after  twice  dipping  her  bows  un- 


THE  PARTY  AT  THE  CAIRN. 


der,  and  rising  heavily  from  the  weight  of  green  seas 
forward  and  in  her  waist.  Our  poorest  sailors,  however, 
forgot  their  misery  at  eleven  p.m.  on  Tuesday,  June 
23d,  when  we  got  our  first  glimpse  of  the  grandeur  of 
the  Greenland  coast.  Cape  Desolation  was  the  dis- 
tant landmark  before  us,  and  next  morning  the  mount- 
ains were  in  full  view  all  along  to  the  east.  Ivigtut, 
famous  for  its  cryolite  mines,  was  abreast,  and  before 
noon  we  saw  the  great  marble  wall  of  the  Frederick- 


56         Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

shaab  Glacier,  one  of  the  largest  in  the  world  ;  and  to 
the  right  of  it,  and  inland,  the  peak  of  Kangarsuk, 
4710  feet  high,  reared  its  sharp,  snow-blotched  apex, 
a  perfect  counterpart  of  the  Matterhorn.  The  vivid 
brilliance  of  the  sun  brought  into  bold  relief  the  rug- 
ged outlines  of  the  mountains  twenty  miles  away,  on 
whose  sides  was  much  snow,  particularly  on  their 
northern  aspects.  As  the  sun  neared  the  horizon, 
the  lights  and  shadows  and  clear-cut  profiles  of  the 
mountains  were  inexpressibly  grand.  We  met  the 
East-Greenland  pack-ice  that  had  rounded  Cape 
Farewell,  and  our  course  was  changed  a  little  to 
avoid  it. 

Early  on  Thursday  morning  we  passed  Godhaab, 
north  of  which  the  rugged  mountains  dropped  away, 
and  for  a  long  distance,  until  South  Isortok  Fjord  is 
reached,  the  coast  is  comparatively  low  and  the 
mountains  rounded.  North  of  South  Isortok,  the 
mountains,  capped  with  snow,  streaked  with  glaciers, 
and  cleft  with  deep  gorges,  again  grow  wild  and  rug- 
ged. All  Friday  afternoon  we  passed  great  numbers 
of  icebergs,  the  spring  output  from  the  Disco  Bay 
glaciers,  marvellous  in  endless  variety  of  form  and 
colour.  Large  flocks  of  eider-ducks  were  seen  and  a 
few  shot. 

I  shall  not  dwell  upon  the  various  phases  of  life  and 
nature  in  Danish  Greenland,  which  have  been  so  often 
and  so  well  described  by  travellers.  This  volume  has 
to  do  with  hitherto  unknown  or  little  understood  as- 
pects of  North  Greenland,  and  with  experiences,  some 
of  which  are  entirely  new  in  arctic  exploration. 

On  Saturday,  June  27th,  we  dropped  anchor  in  the 
land-locked  harbour  of  Godhavn,  the  chief  settlement 
in  the  North  Inspectorate  of  Danish  Greenland. 
The  place  had  not  changed  in  the  five  years  since  I 
had  seen  it.       No  building  boom  had  reached  God- 


Brooklyn  to  McCormick  Bay  57 

havn,  and  the  real-estate  market  was  as  flat  as  ever. 
The  famihes  of  Inspector  Andersen  and  Governor 
Carstens  were  a  little  larger  than  five  years  ago,  and 
the  Inspector  and  Mrs.  Andersen  were  the  same 
genial,  hospitable,  homelike  couple  as  ever.  We 
learned  that  Hans  Hendrick,  the  Eskimo  who  had 
accompanied  so  many  expeditions,  and  whose  autobi- 
ography has  been  published  in  English,  had  died  three 
years  before.    With  Mrs.  Peary  and  Professor  Heilprin, 


A    CRUISER  OF  THE  ARCTIC  WHITE   SQUADRON. 

I  called  on  Inspector  Andersen,  and  the  freedom  of 
the  place  was  given  to  the  expeditions.  Most  of  us 
started  for  a  field  day  on  the  ice-cap  peering  down 
from  the  summit  of  the  island.  It  took  us  four  hours 
of  an  arctic  afternoon  to  reach  the  edge  of  the  ice- 
cap, 2400  feet  above  the  sea.  .Seating  ourselves,  we 
enjoyed  the  scene  around  and  below  us,  a  scene  that 
can  be  duplicated  nowhere  but  in  Greenland. 

Almost  at  our  feet  lay  the  town  and  harbour  of 
Godhavn,  the  houses  mere  specks.  The  Kite  and  a 
Danish  brig  in  the  harbour  looked  like  toy  boats.  Be- 
yond the  town,  over  Disco  Bay,  to  the  south-east,  was 


58 


Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 


far-distant,  misty  Egedesminde  and  the  Crown  Prince 
Islands.  To  the  west,  the  bhie  of  Baffin's  Bay  cHmbed 
upward  till  lost  in  golden  splendour  beneath  the  west- 
ern sun.  Over  the  ice-cap  to  our  left,  Disco  Bay  bore 
upon  its  placid  bosom  hundreds  of  icebergs,  the  out- 
put of  the  mighty  Jacobshavn  Glacier,  whose  gleam- 
ing front  was  seen  breaking  the  dark  round  of  the 
mountains  on  the  eastern  horizon.  Behind  us  was 
the  eternal,  unbroken  ice-cap,  smooth  as  marble  and 
with  a  gently  undulating  surface.  We  built  a  cairn 
eight  feet  high  in  memory  of  our  visit,  depositing  in 
it,  in  a  tin  box,  the  date,  the  names  of  the  party,  and 
a  few  American  coins.  Then  we  returned  to  the  Kite, 
tired  and  hungry,  but  enthusiastic  over  our  first  Green- 
land outing. 


SANDERSON'S    HOPE. 


The  next  day  was  devoted  to  excursions  in  the 
neighbourhood.  In  the  evening,  Professor  Heilprin, 
Mr.  Astriip,  Mr.  Kenealy,  Mrs.  Peary,  and  I  dined 
with  Inspector  Andersen.  After  dinner,  we  looked 
on  for  a  while  at  a  native  dance  in  one  of  the  govern- 


6o         Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

ment  buildings,  and  then  passed  a  pleasant  evening 
at  the  Inspector's  house. 

I  had  intended  to  get  under  way  early  on  Monday 
morning,  but  a  south-wester,  accompanied  by  a  dense 
fog.  held  us  in  the  harbour  until  two  p.m.,  when  we 
steamed  out  with  Hags  dipping  and  a  salute  from  the 
ship's  cannon.  Shaping  our  course  north,  we  went 
along  the  shore  of  Disco  Island,  and  thirty-six  hours 
later,  cast  anchor  in  the  harbour  of  Upernavik.  Dur- 
ing all  these  hours,  we  steamed  through  a  sea  on 
which  hardly  a  ripple  could  be  seen.  Save  for  the 
icebergs  that  dotted  the  sea  here  and  there,  there 
was  no  ice.  The  Waigat,  Nugsuak  Peninsula,  broad- 
mouthed  Omenak  Fjord  with  the  great  Inland  Ice 
visible  far  up  at  its  head,  Black  Hook  of  the  old 
Dutch  navigators,  and  sublime  Sanderson's  Hope,  all 
stood  out  in  their  grandest,  most  brilliant  aspects. 

I  found  it  impossible  to  obtain  from  Governor  Beyer, 
of  Upernavik,  either  a  kayak  or  a  native  interpreter 
to  go  along  with  us,  and  so,  after  returning  his  ofifi- 
cial  call,  accompanied  by  Professor  Heilprinand  Mrs. 
Peary,  I  got  under  way,  leaving  behind  the  most 
northerly  town  on  the  globe.  The  Kite  steamed  over 
summer  seas,  past  the  numerous  red-brown  islands 
that  guard  this  arctic  coast.  Through  every  depres- 
sion in  the  mountains  and  from  every  fjord  head,  the 
marble  surface  of  the  Inland  Ice  looked  down  upon  us, 
the  crevasses  in  the  lower  portions  visible  at  times 
with  the  naked  eye.  Past  many  giant  mile-stones 
by  which  the  whalers  measure  their  advance  in  their 
annual  battles  with  the  ice-floes,  we  steamed  without 
seeinCT  a  bit  of  ice,  and  at  six  o'clock  in  the  morninof 
reached  the  Duck  Islands,  a  well-known  rendezvous 
and  lookout  for  the  whalers  while  waiting  for  the  ice 
barriers  of  Melville  Bay  to  open  for  them.  At  these 
islands  we  stopped  till  afternoon,  laying  in  a  supply 


Brooklyn  to  McCormick  Bay 


6i 


of  eider-ducks  which  breed  here  in  thousands.  Un- 
fortunately we  were  too  late  to  get  eggs,  they  being 
too  far  advanced  to  be  edible. 


UPERNAVIK. 


Leaving  the  islands,  we  shaped  our  course  direct  for 
Cape  York,  with  the  most  sanguine  expectation  of 
making  a  speedy  passage  across  Melville  Bay,  and  per- 
haps reaching  Whale  Sound  on  the  4th  of  July,  the  day 
on  which  famous  old  Baffin  cast  anchor  in  the  Sound 
over  275  years  ago.  Our  expectations,  however,  were 
doomed  to  speedy  disappointment.  Sixteen  miles 
north  of  the  Duck  Islands,  we  met  the  dreaded  Mel- 
ville-Bay pack,  and  after  running  along  its  edge  close 
to  the  Devil's  Thumb,  and  then  back  again  to  the 
westward,  in  search  of  a  good  opening,  the  Kite,  at 
7:30  P.M.,  on  July  2d,  stuck  her  sturdy  little  nose  into 
the  pack  and  began  a  long  struggle. 


62 


Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice 


The  Greenland  ice-cap,  which  we  could  discern  above 
the  coast  mountains,  seemed  very  rough  and  broken 
by  crevasses.  I  had  no  doubt,  however,  that  farther 
inland  it  offered  the  favourable  conditions  for  sledging 
that   I   expected  to  find  on  the   inner  ice  of   North 


THE    PARTY    AT    THE   DUCK    ISLANDS. 

Greenland.  Baffled  by  the  ice  of  Melville  Bay,  I 
encountered  at  the  outset  of  my  arctic  work  one  of 
the  common  vicissitudes  of  polar  exploration  in  ships  ; 
while  not  many  miles  east  of  us  was  the  great  interior 


Brooklyn  to  McCormick  Bay  63 

ice-plateau,  offering  an  imperial  highway  to  the  far 
North.  The  ice  of  the  pack,  where  we  first  encount- 
ered it,  was  only  six  to  fifteen  inches  thick,  and  rotten. 
The  ice-pans,  as  sailors  call  very  small  and  somewhat 
rounded  fioes,  averaged  perhaps  twenty-five  feet  across, 
and  numerous  icebergs  were  scattered  through  the 
pack.  As  we  got  farther  into  the  pack,  some  of  the 
pans  were  six  or  seven  feet  thick. 

We  managed  to  keep  under  way  by  fits  and  starts 
into  the  night  of  July  4th,  but  the  next  morning  the 
ice  tightened,  and  after  that  we  drifted,  utterly  help- 
less in  its  grip,  for  one  long  week. 

The  "  Fourth  "  was  ushered  in  by  firing  the  ship's 
cannon,  and  the  flags  that  had  been  run  up  were  dipped 
and  greeted  with  a  volley  of  small-arms.  We  joined  in 
a  toast  to  the  Stars  and  Stripes,  and  the  expeditions 
posed  for  their  picture  on  the  ice,  with  the  Kite  as  a 
background.  At  dinner  we  had  a  special  spread  of 
roast  eider-duck,  plum-duff,  and  Melville-Bay  Roman 
punch,  consisting  of  snow,  milk,  rum,  lime-juice,  and 
sugar.  Our  celebration  of  the  national  holiday  was 
regarded  as  a  great  success,  with  the  exception  of  the 
punch,  the  rum  in  this  being  none  of  the  best,  and  a 
little  too  much  in  evidence. 

The  crow's-nest  was  sent  up  soon  after  we  entered 
the  ice,  and  the  chief  business  of  life  for  days  was 
scanning  the  ice-fields  from  this  lofty  point  of  vantage 
for  some  sign  of  a  change.  The  white,  unrelieved  ex- 
panse of  the  pack  soon  ceased  to  be  a  novelty,  and 
became  very  monotonous,  while  snow  and  fog  con- 
tributed their  part  to  the  unpleasant  situation. 

On  the  ninth  I  secured  an  observation  which  crave 
our  position  as  74°  51  N.  Lat.,  and  an  approximate 
longitude  of  60°  W. 

Pools  were  forming  on  the  surface  of  the  floes 
and  the  ice  was  melting  rapidly  and  growing  more 


64  Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

rotten.  The  temperature  averaged  31°  F".,  the  lowest 
being  28°  F.  Often  the  masts,  spars,  and  rigging  were 
covered  to  windward  with  a  thick  coating  of  hoar- 
frost, giving  a  beautiful  but  wintry  aspect. 


f^i-rr 


BESET   IN  THE    MELVILLE-BAY    PACK. 


Our  imprisonment  gave  everyone  a  chance  to  stretch 
himself  upon  the  floes,  but  after  a  time  some  of  the 
party  began  to  have  forebodings  of  spending  a  win- 
ter in  the  Melville-Bay  pack,  not  an  alluring  pros- 
pect, particularly  as  the  commissary  department  had 
not  been  fitted  out  with  that  contingency  in  view. 


Brooklyn  to  McCormick  Bay  65 

At  five  P.M.  on  Saturday,  July  iith,  without  any  ap- 
parent reason,  the  ice  slackened,  steam  was  hurriedly 
gotten  up,  and  the  Kite  forged  ahead  and  began  a 
slow,  laborious  run  that  continued  until  about  mid- 
night Sunday. 

Periods  of  ramming  the  ice  alternated  with  intervals 
of  waiting,  and  the  total  advance  for  the  day  was 
small. 

About  eight  o'clock  on  Saturday  evening,  [uly  iith, 
the  Kite  being  then  engaged  in  ramming  a  passage 
through  some  comparatively  heavy  ice,  I  stepped  to 
the  stern  rail  as  she  was  backing  for  another  blow,  to 
watch  her  behaviour.  Just  as  I  reached  the  rail  a  large 
cake  of  ice  struck  the  rudder,  jamming  it  hard  over, 
and  tearing  the  wheel  from  the  hands  of  the  two  men 
on  duty.  One  of  them  was  thrown  clear  over  the 
wheel  and  across  the  deck.  The  next  instant  the  iron 
tiller  had  caught  my  leg  between  it  and  the  house  and 
snapped  both  bones  just  above  the  ankle.  I  spoke 
to  the  men  at  the  wheel,  askino-  them  to  send  Drs. 
Sharp  and  Cook  to  me,  and  the  next  instant  they  and 
Gibson  were  carrying  me  to  the  cabin,  where  I  was 
stretched  out  on  the  table.  My  leg  was  set  and  I  was 
stowed  on  a  long  seat  across  the  head  of  the  cabin, 
where  I  was  destined  to  remain  till  I  was  taken  ashore 
at  our  winter  camp.  Thanks  to  the  professional 
skill  of  my  surgeon.  Dr.  Cook,  and  the  unwearying 
and  thoughtful  care  of  Mrs.  Peary,  my  co-mplete  re- 
covery was  rapidly  attained. 

Before  this  accident  occurred,  I  had  improved  the 
days  that  we  were  fast  in  the  ice,  to  cut  and  fit  all  the 
frames  of  our  house,  so  that,  when  we  reached  our 
destination,  the  work  of  putting  up  the  structure  was 
expeditiously  performed. 

Annoying  as  was  the  delay  from  the  ice,  my  now 
crippled  condition  made  it  doubly  irksome.      Nearly 


66 


Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 


all  the  week  following  was  a  continual  round  of  ram- 
ming the  ice  and  waiting  for  opportunities  to  make  a 
little  headway.  It  was  a  red-letter  occasion  when 
one  evening,  after  we  had  been  fighting  the  floes  for 
nearly  a  fortnight,  someone  announced  that  a  bear 
was  approaching  the  Kite.  In  a  moment  everyone 
except  myself  was  on  deck,  crouching  behind  the  rail, 
rifle  in  hand,  awaiting  the  bear's  approach. 


MELVILLE    BAY,    JULY   4,    1891. 


In  a  few  minutes  I  heard  a  protracted  fusilade,  and  a 
little  later  was  informed  that  the  bear  had  been  killed. 

The  animal  measured  seven  feet  one  inch,  and  his 
estimated  weight  was  six  hundred  pounds.     The  two 


Brooklyn  to  McCorniick  Bay 


67 


hind  quarters,  dressed,  weighed  about  two  hundred 
pounds.  Through  the  carelessness  of  a  sailor,  both 
hind  quarters  were  lost  overboard  in  hoisting  them  in 
over  the  rail. 

Not  very  long  after,  a  family  party,  consisting  of 
an  old  bear  and  two  cubs,  were  sighted  and  a  number 
of  men  jumped  on  the  ice  in  pursuit,  while  the  Kite 
started  in  another  direction  in  an  attempt  to  head 
them  oft.      The  bears  were  too  wary,  however,  and. 


POLAR    BEAR. 

rapidly  retreating,  were  soon  out  of  sight.  The 
rumour  was  afloat  that  one  gentleman  in  his  eagerness 
went  over  the  side  of  the  vessel  and  started  in  pursuit 
without  his  rifle,  and,  returning  from  the  chase,  had  to 
be  hoisted  on  board. 

We   saw  birds  in   millions,   and  eider-ducks,   ivory 
gulls,  and  seals  were  among  the  game  whose  capture 


68  Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

now  and  then  varied  the  monotony  of  Hfe  in  the 
ice-pack. 

On  the  evening  of  the  i6th,  the  Kite  was  nipped 
between  two  big  floes,  and  aU  other  efforts  to  free  her 
faihng,  holes  were  drihed  in  the  ice,  in  which  bottles 
of  gunpowder  were  placed.  They  were  simultane- 
ously exploded,  blowing  out  a  large  piece  of  ice,  and 
the  ship,  being  put  astern,  was  soon  relieved  from  her 
dangerous  situation.  At  midnight  of  the  1 7th,  the 
ice  opened  up  and  the  Kite  was  able  to  steam  for 
nineteen  hours,  with  such  excellent  results  that  when 
we  were  stalled  again  Cape  York  was  in  sight. 

Monday  morning,  July  21st,  land  was  only  si.x  or 
eight  miles  away  and  the  coast  was  in  sight  from 
Cape  York  to  Conical  Rock.  On  the  23d,  just  three 
weeks  from  the  time  we  entered  the  ice,  the  Kite 
was  once  more  free  of  it  and  fairly  in  the  north  water 
off  Conical  Rock.  She  seemed  as  delighted  as  we  at 
regaining  her  freedom,  and  bowled  merrily  along  north- 
ward in  ice-free  water  past  Petowik  Glacier,  Wolsten- 
holm  Island  and  Sound,  then  rounded  Cape  Parry 
into  Whale  Sound. 

I  had  hoped  to  enter  this  inlet  and  secure  a  winter 
camp  on  the  north  shore  of  Inglefield  Gulf.  At 
Barden  Bay,  on  the  south  side  of  Whale  Sound,  we 
stopped  at  a  settlement  of  Arctic  Highlanders,  con- 
taining a  population  of  seven  adults  and  five  children. 
W^e  obtained  here  some  specimens  of  native  handi- 
work and  then  steamed  on  to  Herbert  Island.  We 
found  no  natives  there,  and  at  once  shaped  our  course 
up  Whale  Sound  to  reach  the  proposed  site  of  my 
house  near  Cape  Tyrconnell  on  the  north  shore  of 
Inglefield  Gulf.  The  ice,  however,  extended  imbrok- 
enly  from  the  east  end  of  Herbert  Island,  south-east 
to  Cape  Powlet,  and  our  progress  was  soon  stopped. 
Turning  about,  the  Kite  steamed  up  between   North- 


Brooklyn  to  McCormick  Bay 


69 


umberland  Island  and  Herbert  Is- 
land and  attempted  to  get  eastward 
into  Inglefield  Gulf  through  Mur- 
chison  Sound.  Again  we  were 
defeated  by  the  unbroken  ice,  for 
the  winter  ice  had  not  yet  come  out. 
So  the  Kite  was  run  into  the  in- 
let a  little  farther  west,  known  as 
McCormick  Bay,  and  here  my  party 
had  its  headquarters  for  the  follow- 
ing year. 

The  site  finally  selected  for  the 
house  was  bright  with  flowers,  and 
there  were  numerous  traces  of  rein- 
deer, foxes,  and  hares.  Seals  and 
walrus  were  abundant  in  the  wa- 
ters of  the  bay,  and  traces  of  na- 
tives were  more  numerous  than  I 
had  anticipated.  Although  we  had 
found  but  one  inhabited  village, 
others  we  visited  were  evidently  only 
temporarily  deserted  ;  and  wher- 
ever we  made  a  landing  we  found 
baited  fox-traps  and  caches  of  meat 
and  blubber.  I  had  therefore  the 
earliest  assurances  that  my  expedi- 
tion would  not  suffer  for  lack  of  an 
abundance  of  fresh  meat. 


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CHAPTER    II. 

PREPARING    OUR    NORTH-GREENLAND    HOME. 

The  Work  before  us — Summer  Scene  on  an  Arctic  Shore — Selecting 
THE  Site  for  our  House — Landing  the  Stores — All  my  Young  Men 
Turn  Carpenters — Description  of  the  House — An  Abode  that  Bade 
Defiance  to  King  Winter — Good-bye  to  the  KrvE — Lovely  August 
Weather — Millions  of  Birds  and  Manifold  Phases  of  Animal  Life 
— We  Name  our  Home  Red  Cliff  House — Red-Letter  Days — First 
Eskimo  Guests — Ikwa  and  his  Interesting  Family — Killing  Deer 
and  Walrus — Reconnoitring  the  Inland  Ice. 


71 


< 


CHAPTER  II. 


PREPARING   OUR    NORTH-GREENLAND    HOME. 


M^' 


struggle  with  the 
Melville-Bay  ice 
had  been  more  se- 
vere than  that  of  most  of 
my  predecessors  in  North 
Greenland  exploration, 
due  partly  to  the  com- 
paratively small  size  of 
my  ship,  parti)'  to  the 
early  date  at  which  I  at- 
tacked it. 
The  three  weeks'  long 
conflict  with  the  floe  ice  had  cost  me  just  that  amount 
of  time  which  I  had  hoped  to  devote  to  the  large 
amount  of  work  preliminary  to  carrying  out  the 
main  purposes  of  my  expedition.  About  three 
months,  however,  yet  remained  to  us  for  outdoor 
work,  before  settling  down  to  the  comparative  in- 
activity of  the  long  winter  night. 

The  first  thing  to  do,  of  course,  was  to  select  a 
suitable  site  for  our  camp,  put  up  the  building,  and 
settle  my  arctic  household  to  rights  as  soon  as  pos- 
sible. Then,  unless  the  Eskimos  came  to  my  head- 
quarters, it  was  essential  to  communicate  with  them. 
I  had  reason  to  believe  that  one  or  more  of  their 
hunters  would  be  of  great  advantage  to  us.      More- 

73 


74         Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

over,  I  wanted  them  Hvinor  near  us.  I  wished  to  be- 
come well  acquainted  with  these  most  isolated  and 
northerly  of  all  peoples,  and,  for  purposes  of  studying 
this  interesting  tribe,  I  hoped  to  induce  not  a  few  of 
them  to  spend'the  winter  months  at  or  near  our  camp. 


SITE  OF  RED   CLIFF   HOUSE. 

On  the  South  Shore  of  McCormnk  I'.ay. 

Then  the  ne.xt  twelve  weeks  would  be  a  busy  time 
for  my  hunters,  for  we  had  the  winter  supply  of  fresh 
meat,  and  also  the  deer-  and  sealskins  needed  for  a 
part  of  my  arctic  outfit,  to  procure.  I  hoped,  too,  that 
we  should  find  some  of  the  native  women  useful  in 
sewing  our  skin  garments.  I  wished  also,  if  possible, 
to  send  a  sledge  party  on  the  Inland  Ice  across 
Prudhoe  Land  to  the  north,  to  establish  one  or  more 
caches  of  supplies  for  the  use  of  the  party  to  the  north 
coast  in  the  following  spring.  Handicapped  as  my 
little    party   was  by   my  temporary   disability   for  all 


Preparing  Our  North-Greenland  Home     75 

physical  activity,  I  felt  that  the  duties  before  us  would 
demand  the  best  energy  of  all. 

The  eager  desire  to  get  about  our  work  possessed 
my  mind  as  I  lay  helpless  in  the  cabin  ;  but  my  party 
was  prepared  to  enjoy  with  the  keenest  zest  the  beau- 
tiful arctic  sum- 
mer day  and  the 
glorious  scene  as 
we  steamed  into 
McCormick  Bay. 
The  sun  was  just 
rising  from  the 
lowest  part  of  its 
nearly  horizontal 
course  above  the 
ice-capped  c  1  i  ff  s 
that  line  the  north 
shore  of  the  inlet. 
All  was  warmth 
and  light  and  ex- 
uberant life.  A 
deer  or  two 
browsed  leisurely 
on  the  slopes,  cov- 
ered with  moss 
and  flowers,  that 
stretched  along 
the  south  shore 
the    dark    brown 


THE    RED    CLIFFS. 


between  the  water's  edge  and 
and  red-brown  cliffs  that  frame 
the  inlet  and  uphold  the  Inland  Ice.  Down  the 
valleys,  worn  by  water  out  of  the  sandstone  and  ba- 
saltic walls  that  bound  the  bay,  leaped  brooks  look- 
ing in  the  distance  like  silver  ribbons.  Flocks  of 
snow-buntings  twittered  and  chirped,  and  millions  of 
little  auks  kept  the  air  alive  with  querulous  cries  and 
the  rapid  beat  of  their  whirring  wings.      The  ice  still 


76 


Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 


filled  the  greater  portion  of  the  bay.  A  broad  river 
of  gleaming  water  ran  close  to  the  shore.  Every 
glistening  iceberg  floated  in  an  open  lake  in  which 
sported  seals,  narwhals,  and  schools  of  white  whales, 
and  narrow  lanes  of  water  ran  in  every  direction 
throucjh  the  rotten  ice,  cutting  it  into  o-reat  floes 
which  floated  slowly  back  and  forth  with  the  tide. 


RED   CLIFF    HOUSE. 


The  bay  was  found  to  be  about  nine  miles  wide  at 
its  mouth  and  some  fifteen  miles  long.  Like  most 
of  this  coast  line,  it  was  incorrectly  charted.  Its 
shores,  according  to  the  chart,  might  be  called  the 
east  and  west,  while,  in  fact,  they  are  more  nearly  the 
north  and  south  boundaries  of  the  bay.  It  narrows 
very  gradually  towards  its  head,  where  it  is  about  four 
miles  wide.  At  the  head  of  the  bay  a  large  glacier 
was  plainly  seen,  and  from  it  came  icebergs  that  were 
sprinkled  over  the  surface  of  the  inlet. 


Preparing  Our  North-Greenland  Home     T'] 

I  immediately  sent  m)'  party  ashore,  first  on  the 
south  and  then  on  the  north  side  of  the  bay,  to  recon- 
noitre for  a  site  for  the  house.  It  was  not  an  entirely 
easy  matter  to  select  a  suitable  location,  because  many 
thintjs  were  to  be  con- 
sidered, and  he  upon 
whom  the  decision 
rested  was  obliged  to 
see  with  the  eyes  of 
others.  The  house 
must  not  be  too  far 
from  the  shore,  it 
must  be  where  no 
landslide  or  falling 
rocks  from  the  cliffs 
could  crush  it,  where 
the  torrents  from  the 
melting  snow  of  early 
s  u  m  m  e  r  could  not 
sweep  it  away,  and  yet 
it  should  be  sheltered 
from  the  furious  blasts 
of  winter,  and  be  so 
placed  as  to  get  all  the 
sunlight  possible. 

The  ice  made  it 
impracticable  to  con- 
si  der  the  northern 
shore,  thouo-h  I  should 
have  preferred  to 
winter  on  that  side  of 
the  bay  as  offering  bet- 
ter protection  from 
northerly  winds.  Mrs. 
Peary  accompanied  the  exploring  party,  and  her  good 
judgment  finally  cast  the  deciding  vote  for  the  location. 


Mrs, 


LOW    TIDE. 
Peary  Leaning  against  a  Block  of  Ice 
Stranded  by  the  Receding  Tide. 


78  Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

She  selected  a  little  knoll  on  the  south  shore,  between 
two  brooks,  about  one  hundred  feet  from  the  waters 
of  the  bay.  The  soft  earth  of  this  little  grass-  and 
tiower-covered  eminence  gave  an  opportunity  to  set 
the  house  level  with  very  little  digging,  while  the 
descent  in  every  direction  ensured  dryness,  and  the 
slight  elevation  gave  a  good  outlook  over  the  bay. 
The  only  objection  to  the  location  was  that  the  clifYs 
to  the  south  would  shut  off  the  sun  early  in  spring 
and  late  in  autumn,  but  this  could  not  be  helped. 

Sunday,  July  26th,  was  beautifully  clear  and  warm. 
Early  in  the  morning  the  men  of  my  party  went  ashore 
with  pickaxes,  shovels,  and  lumber,  and  began  work 
on  the  excavation  for  the  foundation  of  the  house.  A 
foot  below  the  surface  the  ground  was  found  to  be 
frozen.  A  day  sufficed  for  this  work.  Then  came 
the  putting  up  of  the  frame,  which,  having  been  cut 
and  fitted  in  Melville  Bay,  had  only  to  be  nailed  to- 
gether and  erected. 

The  construction  of  my  house  had  been  the  subject 
of  much  study.  I  wished  to  attain  a  minimum  of 
weight  and  size  with  a  maximum  of  strength,  warmth, 
and  comfort. 

The  interior  dimensions  of  the  house  were  to  be 
twenty-one  feet  in  length,  twelve  feet  in  width,  and 
eight  feet  in  height  from  floor  to  ceiling. 

Though  its  construction  was  commenced  anon  and 
pushed  with  great  energy  till  it  was  entirely  enclosed, 
it  was  not  completed  until  several  weeks  later,  work 
upon  it  being  done  from  time  to  time  in  the  interims 
between  other  more  immediately  pressing  work. 

As  finally  completed,  the  house  consisted  of  an  inner 
and  an  outer  shell,  separated  by  an  air-space,  formed 
by  the  frames  of  the  house  and  varying  from  ten 
inches  at  the  sides  to  over  three  feet  in  the  centre  of 
the  roof. 


Preparing  Our  North-Greenland  Home     79 

On  the  outside  of  these  frames  was  attached  the 
outer  air-tight  shell,  composed  of  a  sheathing  of  closely 
fitting  boards  and  two  thicknesses  of  tarred  paper. 
To  the  inside  of  these  frames  was  fastened  the  inner 
shell,  composed  of  thick  trunk  boards,  and  made  air- 
tight by  pasting  all  the  joints  with  heavy  brown  paper. 
This  inner  shell  was  lined  throughout  with  heavy  red 
Indian  blankets. 


"THE    DAYS   WERE    VERY    LONG." 


This  made  the  interior  as  warm  and  cosey  in  appear- 
ance as  could  be  desired,  amply  comfortable  for  sum- 
mer and  early-fall  weather.  It  was  still,  however,  not 
in  a  condition  to  protect  us  from  the  indescribable 
fury  of  the  storms  of  the  arctic  winter  night,  and 
temperatures  of  half  a  hundred  degrees  below  zero. 

To  render  it  impregnable  to  these,  a  wall  was  built 
entirely  around  the  house,  about  four  feet  distant 
from  it. 

The  foundation  of  this  wall  was  stones,  turf,  empty 
barrels  ;  its  upper  portion  built  of  the  wooden  bo.xes 


8o 


Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 


containing  my  tinned  supplies,  piled  in  regular  courses 
like  blocks  of  stone. 

The  boxes  had  intentionally  been  made  of  the  same 
width  and  depth,  though 
of  varying  lengths,  to  fit 
them  for  this  use 

This    corridor   was 
roofed  with  canvas,   ex- 
tending from  the  side  of 
the  house  to  the  top  of 
the  wall,  and  later,  when 
the  snow  came,  it,  as  well 
as  the  roof  of  the  house 
itself,  was  covered  in  with 
snow  and  the  outside  of 
the    walls 
thickly 
banked 
with     the 
same    ma- 
terial.    By 
this     ar- 
rangement 
of  the  box- 
es I  a\oid- 
ed  the  ne- 
cessity   of 
using    any 
portion   of 
the    house 

for  storage  ;  the  contents  of  every  box  was  immediately 
and  conveniently  accessible,  as  if  on  the  shelves  of  a 
cupboard,  and  the  rampart  thus  formed  protected  the 
house  in  a  surprising  degree  from  the  stress  of  the 
winter's  cold. 

While  my  party  was  at  work  on  the  house,  the  ship's 


HENSON  WITH  RAVEN  AND  BLUE  FOX. 


Preparing'  Our  North-Greenland  Home    8i 

crew  was  busy  bringing  off  my  stores  and  coal.  This 
task  filled  four  days  with  hard  work.  The  drifting 
floes  made  it  impossible  for  the  Kite  to  anchor,  and 
she  steamed  slowl)'  up  and  down  the  shore,  while  the 
stores  and  materials  were  landed  in  my  whale-boats. 


VICTIM    AND    VICTORS. 


On  Monday  afternoon,  July  27th,  I  was  taken 
ashore,  strapped  to  a  plank,  and  stowed  in  my  little 
tent,  which  had  been  put  up  just  back  of  the  house, 
where  I  could  supervise  the  work.  My  men  kept  at 
their  task,  in  which  they  were  kindly  assisted  by  Mr. 
Ashhurst  of  Professor  Heilprin's  party,  till  nearly  mid- 


82  Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

night,  when  the  frames  were  all  up.  Then  they  went 
back  to  the  Kite,  leaving  Mrs.  Peary  and  myself  in  the 
tent.  A  school  of  white  whales  came  puffing  and 
grunting  close  to  the  beach  in  front  of  the  tent,  but 
they  and  snow-buntings  were  our  only  visitors. 

Our  camp  was  two  and  one  third  miles  a  little 
north  of  east  along  the  beach  from  Cape  Cleveland, 
the  seaward  terminus  of  the  southern  shore  of  the 
bay.  Our  position  was  77°  40'  N.  Lat.  and  70° 
40'  W.  Long.  We  were  over  thirty  miles  north  of 
the  latitude  in  which  the  unfortunate  Jcannctte  found- 
ered. Within  a  degree  of  latitude  north  of  us  had 
been  enacted  much  of  the  history  of  the  Smith  Sound 
expeditions.  Two  or  three  days  by  boat  or  sledge, 
according  to  the  season,  would  take  us  to  the  winter 
camp  of  Kane,  Hayes,  and  Buddington,  or  to  bleak 
Cape  Sabine,  where  most  of  Greely's  party  perished. 
From  our  beach  we  could  look  out  upon  islands 
whose  names  had  been  made  famous  in  the  annals 
of  e.xploration.  Just  past  the  western  end  of  North- 
umberland Island,  rose  sharp  and  clear  in  pleasant 
weather  the  cliffs  of  "  Hakluyt's  Isle,"  which  had  shel- 
tered brave  Baffin  in  his  tiny  ship  almost  three  cen- 
turies before. 

We  were  to  spend  the  winter  night  within  740 
geographical  miles  of  the  North  Pole. 

Mrs.  Peary  and  I  said  good-bye  to  our  friends  of 
the  West-Greenland  Expedition  and  the  Kite  on  the 
evening  of  July  29th,  for  it  was  expected  that  the  Kite 
would  sail  during  the  night  or  early  next  morning. 
My  party  remained  on  the  Kite  writing  letters  to  be 
sent  home.  All  night  the  wind  and  rain  beat  in  fitful 
gusts  upon  our  little  white  tent  on  the  desolate  Green- 
land shore.  Towards  morning  we  fell  asleep,  but  I 
was  awakened  about  5:30  o'clock  by  the  Kite's  whistle. 
I  heard  cheering,  the  slow  beat  of  the  Kite's  propel- 


Preparing  Our  North-Greenland  Home    83 

ler,  and  then  the  sound  of  oars  in  the  rowlocks.  My 
party  were  coming  ashore  and  the  Kite  was  moving 
away  from  us  to  sunny  southern  lands.  Mrs.  Peary, 
tired  with  her  long  watching,  was  fast  asleep  and  I 
had   not  the  heart  to  wake  her,   particularly  as  the 


WEIGHING    UP    A    WALRUS. 

sight  of  the  little  craft  that  had  been  her  home  so  long, 
vanishing  among  the  icebergs,  was  not  likely  to  be 
cheering. 

The  whale-boat  soon  reached  the  beach,  and  almost 
immediately  I  heard  the  lively  tattoo  of  hammers  upon 
the  rafters  and  sides  of  our  yet  roofless  home.      I  knew 


84  Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

the  merry  racket  masked  more  than  one  sober  thought 
that  followed  the  Kite.  The  boys  laboured  earnestly 
and  well,  but  the  work  was  new  to  them  all,  and  the 
stormy  weather  interfered  seriously,  so  that  two  nights 
more  were  passed  in  the  tent,  though  each  night  we 
thought  it  would  be  carried  away  bodily  by  the  furi- 
ous squalls  that  fell  upon  it  from  the  cliffs.  Every 
day  the  boys  piled  more  and  more  stones  upon  it  and 
attached  more  guy  ropes. 

Finally  the  roof,  floor,  and  sides  were  completed,  and 
just  as  everything  in  the  tent  was  saturated  we  moved 
into  the  house,  and  I  was  transferred  to  a  pile  of 
patent  fuel  boxes  in  one  corner.  Then  the  stove  was 
set  up,  the  stovepipe  being  pushed  through  the  near- 
est window  after  the  style  of  architecture  recognised 
in  squatter  town,  and  gradually  our  equipment  was 
brought  under  cover  and  dried. 

No  part  of  our  household  equipment  required  more 
careful  consideration  than  our  stove,  but  by  sinking  it 
in  a  pit  in  the  floor  so  that  the  firepot  was  below  the 
floor  level  and  carrying  the  stovepipe  through  a 
double  window,  two  of  the  panes  of  glass  in  which 
had  been  replaced  by  sheets  of  tin,  thus  keeping  the 
pipe  throughout  its  entire  extent  entirely  away  from 
contact  with  any  woodwork,  the  two  great  desiderata 
were  accomplished  :  of  warming  the  air  in  the  room 
clear  down  to  the  floor  level,  and  of  obviating  any 
possibility  of  an  accidental  fire. 

The  next  matter  of  vital  importance  in  our  house- 
hold economy  was  that  of  sufticient  and  equable  ven- 
tilation. This  was  accomplished  by  suitably  arranged 
and  proportioned  air-shafts,  through  which  all  of  the 
moisture  and  bad  air  escaped. 

When  the  weather  was  extremely  cold,  the  conden- 
sation from  the  warm  air  escaping  through  the  shafts 
was  like  thick  white  smoke.      Rude  but  comfortable 


Preparing  Our  North-Greeniand  Home    85 

bunks  were  constructed  for  everyone,  and  these,  with  a 
number  of  chairs,  table,  and  several  boxes  of  books, 
completed  the  furnishing  of  the  house.  Our  library 
included  a  large  number  of  works  on  Arctic  explora- 
tion, novels,  and  other  reading  matter,  and  also  an 
Italian  dictionary  which  some  kind  friend  had  sent 
us  without  accompany- 


me 


litera- 


it  with  any 
ture  in  that  language. 

When  the  snow 
came,  the  wall  all 
around  was  heavily 
banked  with  snow,  and 
a  foot  of  snow  was 
piled  on  the  canvas 
roof  of  the  corridor  or 
passage-way  between 
the  house  and  the  wall 
around  it.  Then,  with 
blocks  and  slabs  of 
hard  snow,  a  thick  wall 
was  built  to  protect 
the  gable,  and  with 
more  blocks  and  slabs 
a  long,  narrow,  low 
snow  entrance  to  the 
corridor  was  built. 
Our  fortress  was  then  completely  fortified  against  the 
severest  assaults  of  the  arctic  winter. 

On  the  whole,  with  the  exception  of  the  first  ten 
days,  we  had  very  beautiful  weather  for  a  month 
after  the  Kite  left  us.  Day  after  day,  the  sun  shone 
brightly.  The  water  of  the  bay  was  blue  and  spark- 
lino-  and  the  iceberafs  grleamed  in  the  genial  sunlight 
like  marble,  while  the  wind  blew  soft  and  warm.  I 
think  the  weather  we  enjoyed  during  August  must 


UNTOLD   WEALTH 

See  Knife  and  Mirror  in  the  Woman's  Hand. 


86 


Northward  over  the  "  Great  Ice  " 


be  exceptional  in  that  far  northern  region  ;  or  perhaps 
it  was  the  Indian  summer  of  the  arctic  lands.  Fore- 
warnings  of  approaching  winter  came  to  us,  however, 
before  the  end  of  the  month.  In  the  latter  part  of 
August  we  had  considerable  fog  and  threatening 
weather.  On  August  28th,  it  began  snowing  and 
the  snow  fell  rapidly  for  an  hour  or  two.  Next  day 
the  mountains  on  both  sides  of  the  bay  were  covered 
with  snow  to  within  about  400  feet  of  the  sea  level. 
Rain  alternated    with    snow  and    the  day  was  very 


CRIPPLE    BEACH. 

My  Promenade. 

disagreeable.  We  spent  it  overhauling  one  of  the 
sledges  for  the  approaching  sledging  season.  On 
August  29th,  it  snowed  again,  and  at  midnight  the 
ground  for  the  first  time  was  white  down  to  the 
water's  edge.  It  melted,  however,  next  day,  and  no 
snow  was  seen  at  a  lower  elevation  than  300  to  400 
feet    above  the  sea.     On  the  last  day  of  August,  it 


Preparing  Our  North-Greenland  Home    87 

was  evident  that  summer  was  at  an  end.  The  httle 
brook  near  the  house  had  already  been  frozen  over 
for  two  or  three  days. 

Soon  after  the  Kite  left  us,  I  was  able  to  get  around 
on  crutches,  and  one  of  the  delights  of  life  was  to  sit 
in  front  of  the  house,  taking  sun-baths  and  enjoying 
the  invigorating  air.      Before  the  middle  of  the  month, 


ARCTIC    HOUSE    BUILDING. 


the  ice  was  almost  entirely  out  of  the  bay,  but  numer- 
ous small  bergs  from  the  glacier  at  its  head  were 
scattered  over  its  surface,  and  frequently  we  heard 
the  loud  reports  as  they  broke  to  pieces.  On  August 
15th,  I  observed  that  the  snow  on  the  ice-caps  sur- 
rounding McCormick  Bay  was  melting  quite  rapidly, 
and  the  ice  could  be  plainly  seen  bluish-green  in  colour. 
Most  of  the  days  were  very  delightful  as  I  sat  in  front 


88  Northward  over  the  "  Great  Ice  " 

of  the  house  against  the  whale-boat  Mai-y  Peary, 
enjoying  my  sun-bath.  The  Httle  brook  beside  the 
house  babbled  merrily,  the  Bocks  of  little  auks  flew 
past  just  off  the  beach,  uttering  their  garrulous  cries, 
and  every  few  minutes  I  could  hear  the  crash  and 
thunder  of  a  sundering  berg  rolling  across  the  bay. 
The  mosses  and  scant  vegetation  of  the  rock  slopes 
along  the  shore  were  taking  on  a  purplish  hue  as  if 
it  were  the  autumn  foliage. 

On  August  iith,  when  I  assigned  the  various 
members  of  the  party  to  their  bunks  in  the  house, 
I  settled  upon  the  name  of  our  lowly  home,  calling 
it  Red  Cliff  House,  after  the  red  cliffs  behind  it,  which 
were  the  most  prominent  object  in  view  as  our  steamer 
had  brought  us  into  the  bay.  Red  Cliff  House  began 
early  to  have  its  gala  occasions.  To  vary  the  routine 
of  life,  we  proposed  to  especially  distinguish  anni- 
versaries that  were  of  particular  interest  to  the 
members  of  our  party.  The  first  of  the  fetes  in  our 
new  home  was  on  August  8th,  which  was  the  birth- 
day of  my  coloured  boy.  Matt.  After  the  boys  had 
had  coflfee  in  the  morning,  they  went  off  on  a  hunt 
and  came  back  early  in  the  afternoon  with  our  first 
deer,  which  had  been  shot  by  Astriip  on  the  plateau 
above  the  cliffs  back  of  the  house.  Their  exercise 
gave  them  splendid  appetites  for  the  birthday  dinner. 
Matt  had  made  out  the  bill  of  fare,  taking  anything 
he  chose  from  the  stores,  and  he  had  a  more  than 
usually  fine  spread.  The  third  anniversary  of  the 
wedding  of  Mrs.  Peary  and  myself  occurred  on  August 
nth,  and  while  the  boys  were  off  in  the  boat  after 
seals,  Mrs.  Peary  got  up  a  little  extra  dinner.  The 
luxurious  feast  was  served  on  a  bare-board  table  in 
tin  mess-pans.  It  consisted  of  little-auk  stew,  hot 
biscuit,  apple-pie,  pears,  and  coffee,  with  a  cocktail  to 
start  with  and  a  glass  of   Haut  Sauterne  all  around. 


Prep 


aring  Our  North-Greenland  Home     89 


The  bill   of  fare  was  declared   by  our   party  to   tend 
to  make  wedding  anniversaries  popular. 

During  the  hours  I  spent  in  the  sunlight  in  front  of 
the  house  or  on  the  slopes  between  the  house  and  the 
cliffs  back  of  it,  I  was  greatly  entertained  by  watching 
the  manifold  phases  of  animal  life  that  were  to  be 
seen  at  all  times.  Flocks  of  kittiwakes  fished  along 
the  shore,  and  white  whales  sported  in  the  waters, 


REST   AFTER    LABOUR. 

their  antics  giving  us  much  amusement.  Jager  and 
burgomaster  gulls  passed  over  the  camp  in  small  num- 
bers. On  August  14th,  I  saw  a  blue  fox  passing  along 
the  beach  in  front  of  the  house.  When  he  saw  me 
he  stopped,  but  before  Mrs.  Peary  could  bring  my 
rifle  he  had  trotted  slowly  away  up  the  beach.  I 
whistled  to  him  and  he  stopped  again,  and,  calling 
Matt,  I  gave  him  the  rifle  and  told  him  to  go  after 


go         Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

the  animal.  Matt  found  that  whistling  would  make 
him  stop  and  look  around,  and  so  walking  and  whist- 
ling he  got  within  range  and  shot  him.  The  fox 
had  hazel  eyes,  was  in  poor  condition,  and  weighed 
just  seven  pounds.  His  teeth  were  badly  worn,  and 
as  he  loped  along  the  beach  he  had  a  very  spidery, 
long-legged  appearance.  As  Matt  was  bringing  his 
prize  back  to  the  house,  a  raven  circled  over  and  I 
dropped  him  with  my  three-barrelled  gun.  He  weighed 
three  pounds  and  was  also  in  very  poor  plumage. 

Little  auks  were  to  be  seen  by  the  million,  and  I 
spent  hours  watching  them  fly  over  our  camp.  One 
afternoon  about  the  middle  of  the  month,  there  was 
a  continued  succession  of  flocks  numbering  from  a 
half-dozen  to  two  hundred  or  three  hundred  birds. 
They  were  passing  steadily  down  the  bay.  One  series 
of  flocks  would  fly  only  three  or  four  feet  above  the 
water,  from  one  hundred  to  two  hundred  )-ards  from 
the  shore.  Another  division  would  pass  high  in  the 
air  over  the  house,  and  still  other  flocks  were  higher 
yet  and  scarcely  visible.  Most  of  them  flew  in  more 
or  less  regular  triangles  or  crescents,  the  apex  or  con- 
vexity always  in  front.  By  August  29th,  the  little 
auks  had  practically  left  us,  though  an  occasional 
straggler  was  to  be  seen.  The  guillemots  had  also 
disappeared,  but  the  burgomasters  had  been  more 
numerous  for  a  few  days,  twent)'  or  more  passing  at  a 
time.  On  August  28th,  1  saw  a  Greenland  falcon  at 
Cape  Cleveland. ' 

]\Iy  broken  leg  was  mending  nicely.       On  August 

'  From  the  I2th  to  the  iSth  of  August,  Mrs.  Peary,  Matt,  and  myself  were 
alone  at  the  house,  the  rest  of  the  party  being  away  in  the  Faith,  on  a  voyage 
to  the  islands.     An  account  of  this  trip  is  contained  in  the  next  chapter. 

During  their  absence,  Mrs.  Peary  and  I  stood  the  night  watch  ;  Mrs.  Peary 
took  charge  of  the  culinary  department,  while  I  read  the  instruments  at  the 
regular  hours.  Matt  stood  the  day  watch,  and  ^iccupied  himself  uith  the  found- 
ations of  the  wall  which  was  to  surround  and  protect  the  house. 


Preparing  Our  North-Greenland  Home    91 

15th,  with  the  aid  of  my  crutches,  I  took  my  first  walk 
since  the  accident  happened.  On  the  i6th  inst.,  I 
hobbled  up  the  hill  back  of  the  house,  and  began 
putting  my  foot  on  the  ground  a  little.  It  was  just 
five  weeks  since  I  had  broken  my  leg  ;  five  weeks  of 
most  valuable  time,  but  I  did  not  feel  like  complain- 
ing, for  my  leg  was  doing  well  and  there  was  no  doubt 
but  that  in  time  it  would  be  as  good  as  ever. 


HARPOON    PRACTICE    UNDER    DIFFICULTIES. 

I  spent  most  of  the  time  on  August  13th  with  the 
small  transit  determining  the  meridian.  On  the  i6th 
inst,  I  took  another  set  of  circum-meridian  altitudes, 
and,  a  few  days  later,  I  secured  good  observations  for 
latitude  and  rate  of  watch. 

At  3:30  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  August  i8th, 
Matt  came  to  our  room,  crying  "  They  are  coming, 
sir,"  and  in  a  few  minutes  after  rounding  the  point,  the 
boys  landed  in  front  of  the  house  with  130  Briinnich's 
guillemots  and  an  Eskimo  family,  consisting  of  a  man, 
his  wife,  and  two  children,  with  a  kayak  and  harpoon, 


92 


Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 


a  sledge  and  a  dog.     The  party  had  shot  a  small  wal- 
rus  near    Herbert   Island,  which   they  had  towed  to 

Cape  Cleveland  and 
made  it  fast  there. 
They  had  been  very 
successful  in  their  trip 
and  had  made  good 
time,  for  the)'  had  been 
absent  only  six  days. 
All  had  lunch,  turned 
in  and  slept  till  nearly 
noon.  After  dinner, 
leaving  Verhoeff  and 
Dr.  Cook  at  the  house, 
and  taking  the  Eskimo 
man  with  us,  we  went 
down  to  Cape  Cleve- 
land to  cut  up  the  wal- 
rus. The  native  per- 
formed the  operation 
very  quickly  and  ex- 
pertly. 

The  Eskimo  family 
pitched  their  tent  near 
the  house.  Their  dog 
was  tied  to  a  stone  close 
by  the  little  stream  and 
all  were  apparently 
content.  Though  the 
Kite  stopped  at  Nettiu- 
lume,  a  native  settlement  on  the  south  side  of  Whale 
Sound,  on  her  way  to  McCormick  Bay,  I  was  not  able 
to  see  any  of  the  natives  on  account  of  my  accident,  and 
so  the  first  Eskimos  whom  I  saw  were  this  family  that 
my  party  had  brought  back  from  Northumberland 
Island.  They  were  Ikwa,  Mane  his  wife,  Annadore  the 
little  girl,  and  the  baby,  Noya.      This  family  remained 


ANNADORE. 

Three-Year-Old  Eskimo  (_;irl. 


Preparing  Our  North-Greenland  Home    93 

constantly  with  me  until  my  departure  from  Red  Cliff, 
with  the  exception  of  a  few  short  visits  to  their  home, 
in  order,  as  we  afterwards  learned,  to  air  their  import- 
ance and  exhibit  the  wealth  they  had  newly  acquired 
from  the  white  men.  They  became  very  much  attached 
to  us,  as  we  did  to  them,  and  Ikwa's  patience  and 
tenacity,  assisted  by  one  of  my  Winchesters,  added 
many  a  fine  deer  to  the  Red  Cliff  storehouse  ;  while 
Mane  became  Mrs.  Peary's  eager  and  faithful  servant. 

Our  hunting  made  fair  progress  in  August,  though 
we  needed  the  tuition  that  we  obtained  later  from  ex- 
pert native  hunters,  to  make  us  most  efificient  in  the 
field.  I  have  already  recorded  that  we  got  our  first 
deer  on  the  bleak  plateau  back  of  the  house  on  Au- 
gust 8th.  Soon  after  the  boys  returned  from  North- 
umberland Island,  they  had  an  unsuccessful  chase 
after  white  whales  ;  but  next  day,  just  before  noon, 
Ikwa  came  running  to  the  house,  crying  "  Awick, 
awick  !"  ("  Walrus,  walrus  !  ")  and  pointing  down  the 
bay.  Sure  enough,  there  were  three  or  four  walrus 
coming  rapidly  on,  and  the  boys,  jumping  into  the 
Faith,  were  soon  out  near  them,  and  in  a  few  minutes 
(after  a  volley  of  twelve  or  fifteen  shots)  they  had  a 
dead  walrus  in  tow,  two  or  more  others  having  been 
wounded.  The  walrus  weighed  1569  pounds,  estimat- 
ing the  blood  and  internal  organs  at  125  pounds.  The 
skin  weighed  220  pounds,  and  the  length  of  the  ani- 
mal was  nine  feet.  Ikwa  used  the  skin  for  covering 
his  winter  habitation,  the  walls  of  which  he  had  begun 
building  the  day  before.  He  carried  stones  for  quite 
a  distance,  some  of  them  weighing  as  much  as  one  hun- 
dred pounds. 

On  August  27th,  soon  after  midnight,  Gibson,  Matt, 
and  Ikwa  went  out  and  got  a  female  walrus  and  a 
young  one.  The  young  animal,  which  was  also  a 
female,  was  brought  ashore  and  it  barked  about  the 
beach  much   like  a  hoarse  bulldog  until   it  was  shot 


94 


Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 


to  put  it  out  of  its  misery.      We  also   killed  a  good 
many  burgomaster  gulls,   auks,  and  other  birds  near 

the  camp.  Late  in  the 
month,  we  saw  the  sun 
set,  a  phenomenon  that 
had  not  occurred  before 
since  we  reached  the 
arctic  regions.  On  the 
night  of  August  29th,  a 
light  was  needed  for 
the  first  time  and  the 
watch  burned  candles 
for  several  hours.  The 
long  summer  day  was 
at  an  end,  but  winter 
was  not  yet  upon  us. 

Monday,  August  3 1  st, 
dawned  clear  and  calm, 
and  I  started  Astriip 
with  his  ski  for  a  twen- 
ty-four-hour reconnais- 
sance of  the  Inland  Ice, 
east  of  McCormick  Bay. 

GREENLAND  FALCON.  .  ^e  rctumed  at  mid- 

night after  a  sixteen- 
hour  absence.  He  had  travelled  an  estimated  distance 
of  seventeen  miles,  but  had  not  rounded  the  head  of 
the  bay.  The  greatest  altitude  he  attained  was  2645 
feet  and  the  lowest  temperature  was +25°?.  He 
reported  that  the  travelling  on  the  Inland  Ice,  as  far 
as  he  was  able  to  see  it,  was  perfection.  He  saw  no 
crevasses,  rivers,  or  ponds.  His  observations,  how- 
ever, tended  to  show  that  our  start  for  the  spring 
sledging  on  the  Inland  Ice  must  be  made  from  the 
north-east  side  of  the  bay,  as  a  deep  valley  seemed  to 
cut  through  from  the  valley  at  the  head  of  McCor- 
mick Bay  southward  to  Whale  Sound. 


CHAPTER  III. 

BOAT    VOYAGE    TO    THE    ISLANDS. 

Instructions  to  Gibson,  Dr.  Cook,  Verhoeff,  and  Astrup — Gibson's 
Report — Dr.  Cook's  Report — Description  of  Hakluyt  Island  by  Ver- 
hoeff. 


THE  FAITH. 


CHAPTER  III. 


BOAT    VOYAGE    TO    THE    ISLANDS. 


O 


N  the  afternoon  of 
August  1 2th,  Gib- 
son,   Dr.    Cook, 
Verhoeff,and  Astriip,  Gib- 
son in  command  and  Dr. 
Cook  second,  left   in   the 
whale-boat    Faith,   provi- 
sioned for  fourteen  days, 
for  Herbert,  Northumber- 
"!*'■  -■        land, and  Hakluyt  Islands, 

■^  JS^*"  to  obtain  birds  from  some 

of  the  loomeries,  to  make 
plans  of  Eskimo  houses  and  villages,  to  communicate 
with  the  natives,  obtain  from  them  furs  and  clothing, 
inform  them  of  the  location  of  our  house,  and,  if  pos- 
sible, induce  a  family  to  come  and  settle  near  us.  The 
Faitli  was  thoroughly  equipped  with  oars,  sails,  anchor, 
and  so  on,  and  the  boys  were  supplied  with  compass, 
chart,  oil-stove,  rifles,  shot-gun,  and  some  five  hundred 
rounds  of  ammunition.  All  the  forenoon  was  occupied 
in  packing  tea,  coffee,  sugar,  and  other  articles,  and 
personal  outfits  for  the  journey,  and  the  start  was 
made  with  a  light  favouring  breeze  and  with  the  cliffs 
of  Northumberland  Island  showing  clearly. 

The    following    instructions    to    Gibson,  the    com- 

97 


98         Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

mander  of  the  expedition,  together  with  a  narrative 
of  the  voyage  in  his  own  language,  and  extracts  from 
the  reports  of  other  members  of  tlie  party,  cover  the 
incidents  and  results  of  the  trip. 

Red  Cliff  House,  North  Greenland, 

Aug.  12,  iSqi. 

Sir  : — You  are  hereby  placed  in  command  of  the 
boat  expedition  to  Hakluyt,  Northumberland,  and 
Herbert  Islands,  and  possibly  the  south  side  of 
Whale  Sound. 

On  leaving  here  you  will  proceed  to  Hakluyt 
Island,  and  endeavour  to  locate  the  loomery  of  guille- 
mots supposed  to  exist  there.  If  successful  in  so 
doing,  you  will  obtain  as  many  of  the  birds  as  possible, 
and  then  proceed  to  the  settlement  at  the  south  side 
of  Herbert  Island  visited  by  the  Kite  on  her  way 
here,  and  at  that  time  unoccupied.  Should  you  at 
any  point  en  route  to  Hakluyt  Island  discover  a 
loomery,  it  will  not  be  necessary  to  continue  to 
Hakluyt. 

You  will  remain  at  the  Herbert  Island  village  long 
enough  to  permit  complete  plans  and  sketches  of  the 
village  to  be  made  by  Astriip,  and,  in  case  the  inhabit- 
ants of  the  village  have  returned,  to  enable  Dr.  Cook 
to  complete  the  negotiations  in  regard  to  which  he  has 
instructions. 

This  work  completed,  you  will  examine  as  much  of 
the  shores  of  Northumberland  and  Herbert  Islands 
as  practicable  without  prolonging  your  absence  from 
camp  beyond  ten  days,  and  then  return  to  camp. 

In  case  no  natives  are  found  on  Herbert  or  North- 
umberland Islands,  you  will  exercise  your  own  judg- 
ment as  to  proceeding  to  Ittibloo.  While  it  is  desirable 
to  communicate  with  the  natives  and  obtain  furs  and 
clothing  from  them,  your  trip  must  under  no  circum- 


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loo       Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

stances  be  prolonged  beyond  a  period  of  two  weeks, 
nor  are  you  to  take  any  risks  whatever  in  crossing  the 
Sound. 

While  sailing  you  will  avoid  icebergs,  and  when  at 
anchor  or  camped  on  shore  you  will  never  fail  to  have 
a  man  continuously  on  watch. 

When  in  the  neighbourhood  of  natives  you  will 
always  leave  one  man  to  guard  the  boat  and  its 
contents. 

You  will  keep  a  full  journal  during  your  absence, 
and  on  your  return  submit  it  to  me. 

In  conclusion,  I  will  call  your  attention  to  the  neces- 
sity for  the  utmost  care  and  attention  to  every  detail 
of  equipment  and  methods,  as  upon  this  will  depend 
your  success  and  the  comfort  of  your  party. 
Very  respectfully, 
(S/j,r,u-</)  R.  E.  Peary,  U.  S.  N., 

Commandi)ig  Expedition. 

Mr.  Langdon  Gibson. 

Red  Cliff  House,  North  Greenland. 

Aug.  12,  i8gi. 

Sir: — You  will  be  second  in  command  of  the  boat 
expedition  to  Herbert,  Northumberland,  and  Hakluyt 
Islands,  and,  in  the  event  of  serious  accident  to  Mr. 
Gibson,  will  assume  the  command. 

During  the  absence  of  the  expedition  you  will  note 
carefully  the  location  of  all  Eskimo  houses  and 
villages  on  the  shores  visited,  and  will  take  full 
descriptive  notes  of  them,  mode  of  construction,  size, 
material,  etc. 

Should  you  find  natives  you  will  endeavour  to 
obtain  from  them  reindeer,  and  bear,  and  blue-fox 
skins,  and  especially  kamiks. 

You  will  endeavour  to  make  the  natives  understand 


Boat  Voyage  to  the  Islands 


lOI 


the  location  of  the  house  and  the  fact  that  they  can 
find  there  desirable  articles  in  exchange  for  their  furs 
and  implements. 

If  practicable,  induce  a  man  and  woman  (possessors 
of  a  kayak  and  accessories)  to  return  with  you  and 
settle  for  the  winter  near  the  house. 


WALRUS   IN    MURCHISON   SOUND. 


If  you  do   not  succeed  in   this  you  may  be  able  to 
bring  a  man  with  his  kayak  back  with  you. 

As  an  inducement  you  can  perhaps  convey  to  him 
the  idea  of  his  having  a  gun  to  use. 

{Signed)      R.  E.  Peary,  U.  S.  N., 

Com  nia  miing  Expeditioii. 
Dr.  F.  A.  Cook, 

Surgeon  mid  Ethnologist. 


I02       Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 


Red  Cliff  House.  North  Greenland, 

Aug.  12,  iSqi. 


Sir  : — During  the  absence  of  the  boat  expedition 
you  will  make  as  complete  a  mineralogical  and  topo- 
graphical examination  of  localities  visited  as  possible, 
and  whenever  practicable  obtain  with  compass  and 
aneroid  a  careful  vertical  cross-section  normal  to  the 


THE    FIRST   NATIVE. 
Photo,  by  Dr.  Cook. 

shore,  extending  from  the  water  level  to  the  crest  of 
the  cliffs. 

You  will  also  keep  a  general  record  of  the  weather. 

Very  respectfully, 
{Signed)      R.  E.  Peary,  U.  S.  N., 

Com  ma  iidiug  Expedition , 
Jno.  M.  Verhoeff, 
Minera/o£'ist. 


Astriip  was  requested  orally  to  make  sketches  and 
plans  of  the  Eskimo  dwellings  and  village.s. 


Boat  Voyage  to  the  Islands 


103 


REPORT    OF    LANGDON    GIBSON,     IN    COMMAND    OF     BOAT 
EXPEDITION. 


-Having  received  our  sailing  instruc- 


Aunist  I  2th.- 
tions,  and  all  being  in  readiness  for  starting,  with  a 
boat's  crew  of  three  besides  myself,  comprising  Dr. 
F.  A.  Cook,  Eivind  Astrup,  and  J.  M.  Verhoeff,  we 
set  sail  from  Red  Cliff  House  this  afternoon  at  4:10. 


ESKIMO    FAMILY    AND   TENT,   NORTHUMBERLAND   ISLAND. 
I'hoto.  by  Dr.  Conk. 

We  proceeded  as  far  as  Cape  Cleveland,  aided  by  a 
light  wind  from  the  east,  which  was  also  accompanied 
by  a  light  rain.  When  abreast  of  the  cape,  the  wind 
failed  us  altogether,  and  we  were  compelled  to  use  the 
oars.  At  seven  o'clock,  we  all  rested  and  had  supper, 
consisting  of  baked  beans,  corned  beef,  crackers,  and 
coffee.      Ahead  of  us  we  could  see,   in  the  direction 


I04       Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

of  Herbert  Island,  considerable  ice,  which  seemed, 
though,  to  be  much  broken  up.  At  eight  o'clock,  a 
light  breeze  from  the  south-east  helped  us  along,  and 
we  were  enabled  to  lay  our  course  north  by  west 
(mag.)  for  the  northern  point  of  Herbert  Island. 
We  soon  came  up  with  the  ice,  which  seemed  to  be 
covered  with  innumerable  dark  objects,  and  which,  on 
closer  inspection,  proved  to  be  a  large  herd  of  walrus. 
Taking  in  our  sails,  not  caring  to  be  bothered  with 
them  in  so  light  a  wind,  and  placing  our  oars  in  posi- 
tion, we  rowed  cautiously  to  within  about  fifty  feet  of 
a  cake  of  ice  which,  by  actual  count,  contained  four- 
teen of  the  brutes.  Here  we  paused  long  enough  for 
the  Doctor  to  obtain  some  snaps  at  them  with  the 
kodak,  and  then,  at  the  word,  we  all  fired  ;  our  bullets 
seemed  to  have  but  little  effect  on  their  tough  hides, 
for,  with  sullen  roars,  they  one  by  one  rolled  into  the 
water,  and  the  floe  on  which  they  were,  relieved  of  the 
great  weight  to  which  it  had  been  subjected,  arose 
at  least  a  foot  more  out  of  water.  We  then  stood 
ready  to  row  or  shoot  as  circumstances  might  require. 
They  soon  came  to  the  surface  some  distance  away, 
and  after  trying  a  few  more  shots,  which  I  found  to 
be  a  useless  waste  of  ammunition,  we  proceeded  once 
more  on  our  journey.  By  this  time  the  wind  had  in- 
creased to  a  whole-sail  breeze,  and  setting  sail  once 
more  we  went  along  at  a  good  speed  and  found  no 
trouble  in  passing  through  the  ice,  which,  on  first  in- 
spection, seemed  to  be  a  barrier  of  no  little  import- 
ance. At  ten  o'clock,  we  passed  the  sound  dividing 
Herbert  and  Northumberland  Islands  and  soon  found 
ourselves  sailing  along  (at  good  speed)  the  coast  of 
the  latter  island,  whose  shore  presented  a  most  deso- 
late appearance,  being  utterly  devoid  of  vegetation. 
At  eleven  o'clock,  I  turned  in  with  Dr.  Cook,  leaving 
Astriip  at  the  helm,  and  Verhoeff  to  tend  sheet. 


Boat  Voyage  to  the  Islands 


105 


August  13M. — At  three  o'clock  this  morning,  we 
changed  watches.  Hakluyt  Island  now  appeared  very 
plainly  ahead  of  us,  and  about  six  miles  distant.  The 
wind  had  increased  to  almost  a  gale,  and  there  was  a 
heavy  sea  running,  in  which  the  Faith  behaved  most 
admirably.  Guillemots  were  seen  flying  in  the  direction 
of  the  island,  each  carrying  something  in  its  beak.  This 
I  took  to  be  fair  evidence  that  we  would  find  their 


ESKIMO   IGLOO,   NORTHUMBERLAND   ISLAND. 

Front  View.      I'hoto.  Ijy  Dr.  Cook. 

loomery.  At  five  o'clock,  we  reached  the  island  and 
found  the  waves  breaking  so  high  on  its  steep  and 
rocky  shore  that  it  was  impossible  to  land  the  Faith 
with  any  degree  of  safety  to  her.  So  sailing  around 
a  point  we  came  upon  some  perpendicular  clifts  which 
in  some  places  seemed  to  overhang.  These  cliffs 
faced  the  west,  and  it  was  in  the  clefts  here  (with 
which  the  walls  were  well  furrowed)  that  we  found 
the  guillemots  resting  in  large  numbers.  We  stopped 
here  long  enough  to  procure  a  few  birds,  but  found 
much  difficulty  in  picking  up  the  birds,  which  would 


io6       Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

fall  at  the  foot  of  the  cliffs,  on  which  the  waves  were 
breaking  with  much  force.  So  I  decided  to  look  for 
a  suitable  camping  spot,  when  I  could  lighten  the 
boat,  and  then  return  for  more  birds.  We  found 
such  a  place  around  the  point  where  the  cliffs  termin- 
ated, and  on  a  smooth,  shelving  rock  facing  the 
south-west.  We  unloaded  the  Faitli  and  proceeded 
to  cook  breakfast,  after  which  we  returned  to  theloom- 


ESKIMO    IGLOO,   NORTHUMBERLAND   ISLAND. 
Rear  View.      I'hoto.  by  Dr.  Cook. 

ery.  By  eight  o'clock,  we  had  gathered  about  forty 
birds,  averaging  more  than  one  bird  to  the  cartridge,  in 
spite  of  the  fact  that  we  were  unable  to  get  much  over 
seventy  per  cent,  of  the  birds  killed,  as  they  would 
fall  on  the  little  projections  of  rock  on  the  cliffs  and 
there  lodge.  Our  method  of  picking  the  birds  up 
after  the)-  had  fallen  in  the  water  was  as  follows  : 
after  having  dropped  as  many  as  we  could  keep  track 
of,  the  gun  was  put  down,  and  two  men  would  then 
back  the  boat  up  to  the  cliffs,  while  another  would 
stand  by  to  fend  off  with  a  boat-hook,  and  the  fourth 


Boat  Voyage  to  the  Islands  107 

would  pick  up  the  birds.  In  doing  this,  we  (several 
times)  came  nearly  striking  the  rocks,  as  the  waves 
were  still  running  very  high.  We  returned  to  camp 
and  had  an  early  lunch,  after  which  Mr.  Verhoeff 
started  to  take  a  cross-section  of  the  island,  while  Dr. 
Cook  and  Mr.  Astriip  took  a  walk  alongshore  in 
search  of  signs  of  natives.  It  rained  in  the  afternoon, 
and  by  four  o'clock  the  Doctor  and  Astriip  returned, 
having  seen  nothing,  except  a  few  fox-traps.  The 
wind  having  moderated  considerably,  we  made  one 
more  trip  to  the  loomery,  and  returned  to  camp  two 
hours  later  with  sixty-two  birds.  We  waited  supper 
for  Mr.  Verhoeff,  who  did  not  return  until  eight 
o'clock,  he  having  been  to  the  highest  point  on  the 
island,  whence  he  obtained  a  good  view  of  Smith's 
Sound,  comparatively  free  of  ice,  and  Grinnell  Land 
appearing  in  plain  sight  on  the  other  side.  On  his 
return,  he  saw  two  young  foxes  of  a  dirty-grey  colour, 
who  came  quite  close  to  him,  evidently  attracted  by  a 
piece  of  seal  blubber  which  he  had  taken  from  a  fox- 
trap  and  was  carrying  in  his  hands.  This  trap,  which 
seemed  to  be  of  recent  construction,  he  found  at  an 
altitude  of  eleven  hundred  feet.  After  supper,  we 
turned  in  under  the  lee  of  an  overhanging  rock,  Mr. 
Verhoeff  and  I  taking  the  watches  for  the  night. 

Aiigiisi  \^i/i. — This  morning,  in  a  drenching  rain, 
we  made  our  final  attempt  at  the  loomery,  and  re- 
turned to  camp  at  nine  o'clock  with  thirty  more  birds, 
making  our  entire  catch  one  hundred  and  thirty-two. 
On  this  last  trip  I  observed  a  pair  of  puffins  which 
evidently  had  their  nest  along  with  the  guillemots. 
Other  birds  which  we  have  seen  while  here  are  the 
raven,  eider-duck,  black  guillemot,  and  little  auk, 
kittiwake  gull  and  burgomaster.  The  ravens  were 
very  tame,  as  well  as  numerous,  some  of  them  ven- 
turing within  the  limits  of  camp  to  obtain  the  bones 


io8        Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

of  birds  that  we  had  discarded.  We  had  another 
earh'  lunch,  and  hy  eleven  o'clock  started  for  North- 
umberland Island,  stopping  for  a  few  minutes  at  the 
eastern  end  of  the  island  to  examine  a  small  loomery 
of  little  auks.     We    soon    crossed    the   Sound  which 


THC     V^A|.L5        Sr      3uPPOnTtN0.THe.     ROOf 


C    R  o  e  3 


6  t  c  T  I  o  M     AT        a.  -  o. 


PLAN    AND    SECTION    OF   NORTHUMBERLAND   ISLAND    IGLOOS. 
Drawn  by  Eivind  Astriip. 

separated  the  two  islands,  in  which  we  found  a  strong 
current  settling  to  the  westward.  The  tide  was  there 
about  half  high  and  rising.  There  was  no  wind,  and 
rowing  along  slowly  we  came  upon  some  Eskimo  huts 
(at  seven  o'clock).  They  proved  to  be  deserted  and 
much  dilapidated.     But  here  we  camped  for  the  night. 


Boat  Voyage  to  the  Islands  109 

Supper  over,  we  turned  in  after  a  stroll  on  the  beach. 
Dr.  Cook  and  Astriip  having  the  night  watch,  gives 
them  ample  time  to  take  drawings,  photographs,  and 
measurements. 

Aiig-itst  15///. — At  eight  o'clock  this  morning,  we 
once  more  started  on  our  cruise,  keeping  close  to  the 
shore.  We  were  compelled  to  row,  losing  what  little 
wind  there  was,  as  it  came  from  the  land.  We  saw 
three  foxes  at  different  times,  running  and  dodging 
along  the  beach,  making  ineffectual  attempts  to  catch 
the  burgomaster  gulls,  who  would  only  fly  when  the 
foxes  seemed  almost  upon  them.  At  about  twelve 
o'clock,  we  came  to  three  more  stone  igloos,  and  as 
we  were  about  to  land  we  were  surprised  at  hearing 
a  shout.  Looking  farther  up  the  hill,  we  perceived 
a  native  coming  towards  us.  He  was  soon  followed 
by  his  wife  and  two  children,  the  younger  of  which 
she  carried  in  her  hood.  We  had  lunch,  which  we 
shared  with  them.  They  liked  coffee  and  crackers, 
but  did  not  seem  to  fancy  baked  beans  or  tomatoes. 
In  the  afternoon  the  woman  made  us  a  pair  of  kamiks, 
and  later  on  we  tried  as  well  as  we  could,  by  mak- 
ing signs,  to  show  that  we  wanted  them  to  accompany 
us  back.  Ikwa,  for  such  is  the  man's  name,  seems  to 
understand,  but  we  do  not  quite  make  out  his  an- 
swer. Mr.  Verhoeff  and  I  take  the  night  watch.  It 
has  stopped  raining,  and  looks  as  though  it  were 
going  to  clear. 

Aiigiist  \btli. — This  morning,  after  breakfast,  it 
being  Sunday,  we  had  a  vote  as  to  whether  we 
should  travel  or  rest,  and  as  all  the  boys  seemed  anx- 
ious to  return  to  Red  Cliff  House  to  enjoy  the  lux- 
uries of  home  life,  I  decided  to  move  along.  After 
the  boat  had  been  reloaded  and  read)-,  we  made  one 
more  attempt  to  induce  Ikwa  and  Mane,  his  wife,  to 
come  with   us,  which  they  decided   quite  suddenly  to 


no       Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice 


do,  and  with  apparently  no  preparations  whatever. 
He  brought  his  dog,  a  female,  also  his  kayak,  which 
we  towed  behind  us.  Shortly  after  leaving,  we  came 
into  sight  of  a  discharging  glacier,  whose  surface  was 
discoloured  a  deep  brick-red.  The  colouring  matter 
was  only  superficial,  however,  for  icebergs  only  re- 
cently detached  seemed  to  contain  nothing  but  clear 


ESKIMOS    ON    NORTHUMBERLAND    ISLAND. 

Photo,  by  Ur.  Cook. 


seal 


floating   a 
after  this  we 


ice.  A  little  farther  on,  we  found 
spear,  which  we  picked  up,  and  soon 
came  around  a  point  and  found  ourselves  quite  near 
an  Eskimo  settlement.  We  could  see  natives  run- 
ning from  one  tent  to  another,  and  one  took  a  kayak 
and  came  to  meet  us.  There  was  considerable  heavy 
ice  at  this  point,  and  happening  to  strike  the  right 
lane  of  water,  we  were  soon  landed,  and  the  boat  was 


Boat  Voyage  to  the  Islands  1 1 1 

surrounded  by  natives,  who  would  have  got  in  it  had 
we  allowed  them  to.  Here  we  decided  to  spend  the 
remainder  of  the  day.  Dr.  Cook  started  in,  and  soon 
had  traded  for  many  valuable  ethnological  specimens. 
We  also  obtained  two  more  pairs  of  kamiks.  The  har- 
poon which  we  found  was  claimed  by  one  of  the  na- 
tives, and  consequently  turned  over  to  him.  The 
south* side  of  this  island  shows  a  marked  contrast 
to  its  northern  side.  Here  the  vegetation  is  luxu- 
riant, the  whole  slope  of  the  hills  appearing  green, 
save  where  it  is  hidden  by  semi-pyramidal  piles  of 
rock,  out  of  which  project  perpendicular  walls  of  con- 
siderable height.  In  these  walls  the  burgomaster 
gull  breeds  in  large  numbers,  and  lower  down,  in  the 
loose  rocks,  which  vary  in  size  from  a  man's  head  to 
that  of  his  body,  the  little  auks  have  their  nests. 

Aiigusi  ijt/i. — When  all  was  ready  for  a  start  this 
morning,  we  found  our  friend  Ikwa  and  his  family  had 
decided  to  go  no  farther  with  us,  and  no  amount  of 
persuasion  on  our  part  could  persuade  him  to  change 
his  mind.  So  we  were  soon  on  our  journey  without 
him.  Shortly  after  leaving  the  settlement,  we  passed 
another  discharging  glacier,  just  past  which  were  seen 
some  more  igloos.  Stopping  here  to  make  some 
drawings  and  to  take  measurements,  we  suddenly  re- 
membered that  some  deerskins  which  we  had  traded 
for  had  been  left  behind.  So  we  returned,  leaving 
Astrup  to  make  the  drawings.  The  distance  being 
only  about  a  mile,  we  were  soon  there  and  got  our 
two  .skins,  and  then  we  thought  of  once  more  trying 
Ikwa.  This  time  he  seemed  quite  willing,  and  it  was 
a  very  short  time  before  he  was  in  our  boat,  his  only 
additional  baggage  consisting  of  a  borrowed  tent,  and 
a  piece  of  narwhal  blubber  which  he  swung  over  the 
bow.  When  we  stopped  to  get  Astrup,  Ikwa  walked 
back  from  the  shore  a  little  distance,  and  soon  returned 


112       Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

with  an  Eskimo  sled,  which  we  also  placed  in  the  bow. 
Here  also  we  replenished  our  water  breaker  from  a 
stream,  and  were  once  more  on  our  way.  As  there 
was  no  wind,  we  were  compelled  to  row,  in  which  ex- 
ercise we  made  Ikwa  take  his  turn.  We  had  passed 
through  the  Sound  dividing  Northumberland  and  Her- 
bert Islands  by  five  p.m.,  and  could  once  more  see  the 


Astrlip. 


Dr.  Cook. 


NATIVES    AND    FOREIGNERS. 

Photo.  1)V  Gibson. 


red  cliffs  in  McCormick  Bay  very  distinctly.  When 
about  two  miles  from  Herbert  Island,  we  fell  in  with 
apparently  the  same  belt  of  ice  we  had  encountered 
on  our  outward  journey,  also  the  walrus,  which  seemed 
quite  as  plentiful  as  they  were  before.  Ikwa  appar- 
ently being  an.xious  to  tackle  them,  I  steered  in  the 
direction  of  a  hummocky  cake  on  which  one  animal 
was  sleeping.      Ikwa  waited  until  we  were  within  about 


Boat  Voyage  to  the  Islands  113 

ten  feet  of  the  cake,  when  he  pkinged  his  harpoon  into 
its  side.  At  the  same  instant,  a  shot  from  Astriip's  rifle 
practically  settled  it.  The  walrus  came  to  the  surface 
but  once,  towed  us  a  little  distance,  and  then  the  line 


ESKIMO    VILLAGE    OF    KEATE.    NORTHUMBERLAND  ISLAND. 
I^lan  and  Elevation,  Drawn  by  Eivind  Astriip. 

suddenly  tightened,  this  time  pointing  directly  down. 
While  this  excitement  was  going  on  we  had  been  ex- 
changing random  shots  at  other  walrus,  inflicting  only 
occasional  flesh  wounds.      While  engaged  in  pulling  in 


114       Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

the  dead  one,  a  big  bull  walrus,  apparently  more  bold 
than  the  rest,  rose  within  a  few  feet  of  our  boat,  and  I 
was  fortunate  in  lodging  a  bullet  from  my  rifle  in  his 
vertebra,  killing  him  instantly.  Ikwa  fastened  his  other 
harpoon  point  in  him  and  we  soon  had  them  along- 
side of  us.  Ikwa  proceeded  (as  I  at  first  supposed) 
to  bleed  them,  but  I  soon  discovered  he  intended 
only  saving  the  heads.  I  let  him  cast  the  carcass 
of  the  big  one  adrift,  saving  only  the  head  and  ivory, 
but  the  other  one  I  made  fast  to  the  stern,  and 
we  commenced  what  proved  to  be  a  most  laborious 
task,  towinof  it  home.  Durintr  the  heat  of  the  e.xcite- 
ment.  Mane  had  been  placed  in  the  bottom  of  the  boat, 
where  she  sat  huddled  up  with  her  two  children,  who 
were  crying  at  the  top  of  their  lungs.  At  about 
seven  o'clock,  we  got  our  walrus,  and  at  4:30  a.m.  the 
next  morning,  a  much-tired  crew  hauled  the  body  of 
the  walrus  up  on  the  shore  at  Cape  Cleveland,  where 
it  was  left,  and  a  half  an  hour  later  we  arrived  at  Red 
Cliff  House,  after  an  absence  of  five  days,  none  the 
worse  for  wear,  having  enjoyed  a  very  pleasant  cruise. 

Laniidon  Gibsox. 

Red  Cliff  HnusE,  North  Grkf.nland, 

Dec.  30,  1891. 

Sir  : — In  pursuance  to  your  instructions  of  August 
12,  1 89 1,  I  submit  to  you  the  following  report  on  the 
duties  you  assigned  me  on  the  boat  cruise  around  Hak- 
luyt  and  Northumberland  Islands,  from  August  12th 
to  August  19th. 

Hakluyt  Island  presented  few  signs  of  Eskimo  hab- 
itation. 

We  found  fo.x-traps  all  along  the  south-west  coast, 
but  only  one  was  set. 

Near  the  south  point,  just  below  the  little  auk 
loomeries,  I  found  another  place  where  two  tupeks 


Boat  Voyage  to  the  Islands  1 1 5 

had  been  placed  amid  a  large  bed  of  beautiful  green 
moss. 

There  were  several  places  where  stones  had  been 
arranged  as  fireplaces,  shewn  by  the  blackened  stones. 

The  sole  food  of  these  people  while  here  must  have 
been  either  birds  or  hare.  I  found  no  large  bones, 
such  as  seal  or  walrus.  Bird  feathers  and  bones  were 
scattered  in  every  direction.  I  found  one  small  cache 
of  little  auks,  evidently  quite  old.  They  were  consid- 
erably decomposed,  and  covered  with  the  germs  of 
decomposition. 

Lines  of  stones  of  nearly  equal  size  were  stood  on 
end  in  a  regular  order  on  several  places  at  elevations 
of  not  less  than  six  hundred  feet. 

Fox-traps  and  these  hare-traps  we  also  saw  all  over 
the  south-west  coast  of  Northumberland  Island.  But 
few  of  the  fox-traps  were  set,  and  none  of  the  hare- 
traps  had  lines  on. 

Many  of  these  fox-traps  were  placed  on  high  rocks 
below  loomeries  where  birds  would  be  apt  to  light. 

The  first  indication  of  Eskimo  habitation  that  we 
discovered  on  Northumberland  Island  w^as  in  a  bay 
and  to  the  west  of  a  large  glacier.  Between  the  village 
and  the  glacier  was  quite  a  large  stream  of  water. 

The  deserted  village  was  made  up  of  two  stone 
igloos,  six  dog-houses,  and  eight  bird  and  blubber 
caches.  All  entrances  of  both  the  igloos  and  dog- 
houses opened  directly  on  the  south.  The  roofs  of 
the  igloos  and  the  toscJnte  were  either  removed  or 
fallen  in.  The  general  mode  of  construction  was  pre- 
cisely the  same  as  others  that  we  examined,  but  large 
bones,  such  as  whale,  walrus,  and  narwhal,  skulls, 
scapulee,  and  vertebrae,  formed  a  large  part  of  their 
walls. 

The  measurements  of  these  dwellings  will  appear 
in  Mr.  Astriip's  report,  which  accompanies  this. 


ii6       Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

We  found  no  graves,  but  large  heaps  of  bones  and 
debris,  mostly  those  of  walrus  and  seal. 

The  next  Innuit  houses  we  found  in  a  large  bay. 
Here  we  found  three  stone  igloos,  two  with  the  roofs 
removed,  and  one  recently  fixed  for  winter  habitation. 


TENT    VILLAGE,    NORTHUMBERLAND    ISLAND. 

Plan  and  Elevation.  Drawn  by  Eivind  Astriip. 

When  we  first  saw  these  igloos  from  a  distance,  we 
could  see  no  signs  of  life,  but  as  we  approached  nearer 
and  were  about  to  land,  we  saw  a  man  coming  down 
over  some  hummocks,  at  a  short  distance. 

His  general  appearance  approached  nearer  that  of 
a  wild  animal  than  a  human  being.      He  expressed  no 


Boat  Voyage  to  the  Islands  1 1 7 

fear,  but  came  right  down  and  helped  us  with  our 
boat,   and  smiled,   and  talked  for  minutes  at  a  time. 

We  of  course  knew  not  a  word  of  what  he  was  say- 
ing. Soon  a  woman  with  two  children  also  appeared 
on  the  scene.  We  had  lunch,  and  offered  them  some 
of  it.  They  seemed  pleased  at  our  generosity,  ate 
what  we  gave  them,  but  apparently  did  not  enjoy  any 
of  our  foods  except  the  coffee  and  biscuits  ;  and  this 
was  also  true  of  the  people  of  the  next  settlement. 

After  this  pleasant  entertainment,  I  tried  to  convey 
to  them  an  idea  of  what  I  wanted.  I  had  already  ex- 
amined the  stone  igloos,  but  found  there  absolutely 
nothing  of  value  to  us. 

The  woman  disappeared  for  a  half-hour,  then  re- 
turned with  a  sealskin.  .She  began  immediately  to 
make  a  pair  of  kamiks,  for  which  I  gave  a  knife. 

The  man  said  that  that  was  all  the  skin  he  had,  and 
the  appearance  of  his  clothes  and  those  of  his  wife 
seemed  to  bear  out  his  statement. 

While  the  woman  was  making  the  kamiks,  Gibson 
visited  the  loomeries  with  the  man,  and  found  that  he 
had  a  tupek  just  below  them. 

Before  we  went  to  sleep,  I  tried  to  tell  them  that  we 
were  to  sleep  there  once,  then  we  wanted  them  to 
come  in  our  boat  with  us. 

The  ne.xt  day,  I  examined  the  igloos.  There  were  two 
natural  fireplaces  where  the  soot  on  the  stones  showed 
that  they  had  used  these  places  for  that  purpose. 

The  usual  collection  of  bones  and  debris  surrounded 
these  stone  igloos.  The  one  fixed  up  for  winter  had 
been  cleaned  out  thoroughly,  re-covered  with  moss, 
and  light  stones  on  the  outside  of  the  moss. 

There  were  a  number  of  bird  and  blubber  caches 
to  the  rear  of  each  of  the  houses,  but  no  dog-houses. 
The  caches  were  all  empty  but  one,  which  contained 
a  small  amount  of  blubber. 


ii8       Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

I  found  three  graves  about  fifty  yards  to  the  rear  of 
the  igloos,  but  the  bones  were  so  much  destroyed 
that  one  could  hardly  find  them. 

As  we  got  in  our  boat  and  ready  to  start  off,  they 
did  not  seem  inclined  to  come  with  us,  but  after 
a  little  gentle  persuasion  the  man  got  his  kayak,  the 
woman  and  her  children  got  in,  then  the  man  went 
after  his  dog.  We  now  thought  that  we  had  these 
people  secure,  and  would  bring  them  home,  but  he 


JOSEPHINE    GLACIER,    NORTHUMBERLAND    ISLAND. 

soon  told  us  that  there  were  more  "  Osikees  "  around 
the  cape. 

As  we  got  around  the  cape,  we  saw  a  tupek,  and  a 
man  in  a  kayak  came  out  to  meet  us. 

This  kayaker  seemed  more  than  pleased  to  see  us  ; 
his  face  was  all  aglow  with  smiles.  He  piloted  us  to 
the  settlement,  which  had  by  this  time  all  assembled, 
the  men  on  the  beach,  the  women  and  children  in  a 
row  on  the  rocks  in  front  of  the  first  tupek. 

Our  friends  from  the  other  settlement  left  us  here. 
We  had  lunch  and  again  shared  part  of  it  with  these 


Boat  Voyage  to  the  Islands 


119 


people.  One  of  the  men  got  a  boiled  burtjomaster 
gull,  and  offered  it  to  lis. 

After  lunch,  I  took  a  census  of  the  village,  the 
population  of  which  numbered  thirteen. 

Each  man  possessed  a  kayak,  a  harpoon,  a  lance, 
and  a  bird  net ;  and  two  possessed  bows  and  arrows, 
a  number  of  rolls  of  line  and  narwhal  sinew.  Their 
blubber  and  meat  supply  seemed  to  be  all  cast  in  one 
general  heap,  the  lean  meat  being  on  lines  to  dry. 


WESTERN  GLACIER,   NORTHUMBERLAND   ISLAND. 

The  lack  of  fear  in  these  men  and  their  confidence 
in  white  men  were  clearly  shewn  the  first  night  we 
camped  there.  At  about  ten  o'clock,  all  the  men 
suddenly  started  out  in  their  kayaks  after  narwhal, 
leaving  their  women  and  children  unprotected.  At 
about  five  o'clock,  they  returned  with  a  narwhal  in  tow. 

I  noticed  here  what  I  have  repeatedly  noticed  since, 
that  they  have  frequent  and  prolonged  hemorrhages 
from  the  nose,  due,  I  think,  in  most  cases,  to  excite- 
ment or  active  physical  exercise. 

There    are    two    very    prominent     and     important 


I20       Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

physiological  characteristics  that  attracted  my  atten- 
tion here.  These  seem  to  be  peculiar  to  these  people. 
The  first — a  very  free  and  rapid  subcutaneous  capillary 
circulation.  The  second — a  complete  envelopment  of 
areolar  tissue,  not  unlike  the  seal  or  walrus. 

The  care  of  their  hunting  outfit,  the  attention  to 
details,  the  economy  of  wood  and  iron,  were  very 
marked  in  this  village. 

They  all  told  us  that  they  heard  the  whistle  of  the 
Kite. 

We  tried  to  inform  these  people  where  our  camp 
was,  and  that  we  had  plenty  of  wood  and  knives. 

As  we  were  about  to  leave,  we  tried  to  persuade 
Mychotia  to  come  with  us,  but  he  hesitated  consider- 
ably. Finally  Mychotia  and  Angodoblachu  followed 
us  in  their  kayaks.  Ikwa  and  his  wife  evidently  mis- 
understood us,  and  did  not  intend  to  come  any  farther. 

We  went  as  far  as  the  winter  settlement  of  these 
people,  when  we  discovered  that  we  had  left  some  of 
our  things  behind. 

Mr.  Astriip  went  ashore  here  to  take  the  measure- 
ments of  the  igloos,  while  the  rest  of  us  went  back  to  get 
what  we  had  left.      In  so  doing,  our  kayakers  left  us. 

I  again  tried  to  persuade  our  former  friend  to  come 
with  us.  He  hesitated,  but  suddenly  made  up  his  mind, 
took  his  belongings  and  all  he  could  borrow,  put  them 
in  our  boat,  and  came  with  us  with  his  family. 

As  we  reached  the  place  marked  5  on  the  map,  we 
saw  two  stone  iMoos,  but  did  not  dare  to  go  ashore 
to  examine  these  for  fear  of  losing  our  prize,  the 
Eskimo  family. 

These  igloos  are  also  situated  in  a  small  bay.  One 
is  a  double  and  the  other  a  single  igloo,  both  deserted. 
Its  native  name  is  Kayati. 

Ikwa  told  us  before  he  came  in  our  boat  that  his 
wife  and  children  would  get  seasick,   but  when  we 


Boat  Voyage  to  the  Islands 


121 


crossed  the  Sound  she  and  the  children  went  asleep 
— and  in  this  condition  we  brouirht  them  safely  to 
Red  Cliff.  Respectfully  submitted, 

F.  A.  Cook,  M.D., 
Surgeon  to  Noi'th-Grccnland  Expedition. 

R.    E.  Pearv,  U.  S.  N. 

HcnsDn.  Gibson.  Astriip.  Ikwnh, 


AT    CAPE    CLEVELAND    WITH    THE    WALRUS. 


DESCRIPTIOX    OF    HAKLUVT    ISLAND    BY    VERHOEFF. 


Hakluyt  Island  is  about  three  or  four  miles  long, 
north-west  to  south-east,  and  a  mile  wide  in  widest 
part,  separated  from  Northumberland  Island  by  a 
strait  apparently  about  two  miles  wide.  Highest 
point,  about  1320  feet  elevation,  is  about  two  miles 
from  west  end.  and  on  north  side  of  island.  Island 
ascends  from  west  end  by  a  gradual  slope  till  reach- 
ing highest  point.  On  top  is  a  table-land  probably  a 
mile  long. 


122       Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

It  also  slopes  from  north  to  south.  Chft's  on  north 
side  near  end,  while  on  south  side  there  is  low  land, 
the  cliHs  being  farther  back  and  not  so  precipitous. 

On  east  part  of  island  is  an  indentation  ;  at  farthest 
inland  part  is  highest  point  on  island.  The  sides  of 
the  indentation  are  very  precipitous  cliffs,  where  guil- 
lemots flock  in  throngs. 

Approaching  the  end  of  island  towards  Northum- 
berland, the  ground  becomes  steeper  than  on  north- 
west side.  A  cairn  about  four  feet  high  is  built  about 
a  quarter  or  half-mile  from  this  coast.  There  is  also  a 
cairn  on  the  table-land.  When  on  summit  there  was 
a  very  brisk  wind  and  the  ground  seemed  to  shake. 

About  two  miles  from  summit,  on  south  side  of 
island,  300  or  400  yards  from  south-east  e.xtremity,  are 
two  peaks,  probably  of  basalt.  They  are  about  i  50 
yards  apart,  and  visible  for  some  distance  away  from 
island.  One  is  accessible,  and  about  980  feet  high, 
as  shown  by  aneroid  barometer.  The  other  is  about 
50  feet  high,  and  is  inaccessible.      It  is  nearer  the  coast. 

Apparently,  glacier  flows  down  from  north  to  south 
part  of  island,  almost  dividing  island.  On  the  table- 
land at  south-east  part  of  island  is  much  grass  and 
flowers,  about  80  or  100  acres,  a  veritable  flower- 
garden,  appearing  very  much  like  spring.  Near  by, 
about  80  yards  from  cairn,  was  a  fox-trap  baited  with 
old-smelling  seal  blubber.  Returning  to  camp,  I  kept 
mosth'  on  southern  part  of  island,  going  over  many 
loose  stones,  and  having  water  flowing  beneath  often- 
times. After  returning  about  a  mile  from  the  twin 
peaks,  I  reached  the  bottom  of  a  hill,  and  about  three 
quarters  of  a  mile  more  brought  me  to  the  glacier,  at 
an  elevation  of  about  300  feet.  About  a  mile  or 
more  of  walking  brought  me  to  comparatively  level 
rocks,  from  which  place  the  ground  was  somewhat 
level  the  remainder  of  the  distance  to  camp. 


Boat  Voyage  to  the  Islands 


12- 


On  the  table-land  near  centre  of  island  were  what 
appeared  to  have  at  one  time  been  Eskimo  stone 
huts,  but  at  this  time  stones  fallen.  Also  two  empty 
mound  remains  of  a  fireplace.  Many  of  rocks  are  red 
and  white,  granite  and  quartz  abounding  on  the  isl- 
and.     In  many  places  rocks  are  covered  with    bird- 


IKWA    CUTTING    UP    THE    WALRUS. 

lime.  Near  our  camp  there  were  huge  rocks,  some 
lying  in  such  positions  as  to  afford  a  natural  shelter 
to  man  or  beast. 

Water  here  was  continually  flowing  down  the  rock 
to  the  sea,  and  it  made  an  e.xcellent  place  for  a  camp. 

On  the  return  from  other  end  of  island,  two  foxes, 
probably  very  young,  being  attracted  by  a  piece  of 
blubber  I  had  taken  from  the  fox-trap,  came  within 
eight  feet  of  me,  so  if  rocks  had  not  covered  the 
ground  I  mitrht  have  causfht  one.    Had  no  rifle  with  me. 

or?  o 

Temperature  on  summit  46°,  like  a  spring  day,  but 
at  one  time  rain.  J.  J\I.  Verhoeff. 


CHAPTER  IV. 


BOAT    AND    SLEDGE    TRIPS. 

Our  Excursion  to  the  Head  of  McCormick  Bay — A  Sledge  Party 
Mounts  to  the  Inland  Ice — The  Attempt  to  Make  an  Advance  Supply 
Depot  Fails — Boat  Journeys  to  Murchison  Sound  and  across  the  Bay 
— Exciting  Battle  with  a  School  of  Walrus — Our  First  Sledge  Jour- 
ney from  Red  Cliff — The  Birth  of  an  Iceberg — Deer  in  Plenty — 
Many  Natives  Visit  us — Their  Snow  Huts  Reared  around  our  House 
— Our  Bright  Native  Seamstress — The  Winter  Night  Enfolds  us. 


CHAPTER  IV. 


liOAT    AND    SLEDGE    TKIl'S. 


T 


HE    first   days  of   Septem- 
ber were  very  busy  unes, 
in  preparing  for  the  first 
sledge  journey  upon  the  Inland 

f^  -»«ps  Ice.  I  intended  to  start  in  the 
.j^c^|A|k  Mary  Peary  for  the  head  of 
^  lIPl  McCormick  Bay  on  the  morning 
J^j.  of  Wednesday,  .September  2d, 
'  *  but  on  that  morning  the  east 
wind  was  whistling  out  of  the 
bay,  raising  such  a  sea  that  the 
voyage  would  have  meant  the 
thorough  wetting  of  the  party  and  equipment.  I 
therefore  postponed  the  trip  till  the  wind  should 
moderate,  and  we  were  compelled  to  wait  till  Eriday 
morning,  September  4th. 

Eriday  came,  bright  and  clear.  I  took  Ikwa  with 
us  and  the  entire  party  except  Matt,  who  remained 
at  the  house.  Coffee  was  served  at  five  a.m.,  so  that 
we  might  make  an  early  start.  The  Mary  Peary  was 
loaded  and  everything  was  ready,  and  wind  and  tide 
were  favourable,  when  it  was  suddenly  discovered  that 
the  boat's  rudder  was  missing.  It  had  been  left  where 
the  tide  Boated  it  away.  Vainly  it  was  sought  for  up 
and  down  the  beach.  I  set  to  work  to  fit  the  Faith's 
rudder  to  the  Mary  Peary  and  at  eleven  a.m.  we  got 

127 


128       Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

under  way.  For  a  mile  or  two,  a  favouring  wind  helped 
us  along,  then  it  failed,  and  the  oars  were  run  out,  but 
the  tide  was  now  against  us  and  we  made  slow  progress. 
At  three  p.m.,  we  landed  just  below  the  first  hang- 
ing glacier,  about  eight  miles  east  of  Red  Cliff  House. 
Its  massive  front,  about  one  hundred  feet  high,  rising 
and  falling  with  the  undulating  surface  of  the  slope 
on  which  it  rested,  hung  far  down  the  hillside.  Here 
we  prepared  lunch,  but  just  as  the  tea  was  boiled,  we 


"THE    EAST    WIND    WAS    WHISTLING    OUT    OF    THE    BAY." 

Sun  Glacier  in  the  Distance. 

were  compelled  to  hurry  aboard  and  push  out  from 
the  shore,  to  prevent  the  falling  tide  from  leaving  us 
fast  on  the  flats,  which  would  have  delayed  us  for 
hours.  Once  outside  the  shoal  water,  the  grapnel 
was  thrown  out  till  we  finished  our  meal. 

Getting  under  way,  we  pulled  against  a  brisk  head- 
wind, and,  when  near  the  head  of  the  bay,  saw  a  herd 
of  reindeer  feeding  on  a  grassy  slope.  I  landed 
Astriip  to  get  a  shot  at  them,  while  the  boat  went  on 


Boat  and  Sledge  Trips  129 

in  search  of  a  camping-place.  At  the  head  of  the 
bay  I  found  a  continuous  sea-wall  of  boulders  parallel 
with  and  about  one  hundred  yards  from  the  shore, 
which,  across  the  entire  head  of  the  bay,  was  a  steep, 
gravelly  bank  six  to  twenty  feet  high,  strewn  with 
boulders.  Outside  the  sea-wall  the  water  was  deep, 
but  the  presence  of  boulders  showing  above  water  in- 
side indicated  very  shallow  depths  there. 

Pulling  across  the  head  of  the  bay,  past  the  mouth 
of  a  muddy  glacial  river  entering  nearly  in  the  centre, 
a  narrow  opening  in  the  sea-wall  was  found.  I  steered 
the  boat  through  this  and  beached  her,  at  seven 
P.M.,  where  the  bank  was  lowest.  We  were  nearly  at 
the  north-east  angle  of  the  bay. 

We  had  just  carried  our  supplies  up  the  bank  and 
kindled  a  tire  in  the  oil  stove,  when  several  shots  were 
heard  from  Astriip.  Dr.  Cook  and  Ikwa  started  with 
their  rifles  to  join  in  the  sport,  leaving  Gibson  and 
Verhoeff  with  me,  Mrs.  Peary  having  wandered  up 
the  valley  soon  after  we  launched.  As  both  these 
men  had  been  up  nearly  all  the  night  before,  I  told 
them  to  get  into  their  bags  and  I  would  stand  watch. 
Hobbling  about  as  best  I  could,  I  rigged  up  the  big 
tarpaulin  as  an  impromptu  "  tupic  "  or  tent.  About 
midnight,  the  hunting  party  returned,  reporting  one 
deer  shot.  We  ate  our  supper  lying  or  sitting  upon 
the  ground  about  the  little  oil  stove,  without  dis- 
comfort.  The  thermometer  registered  -|-i6°  F.  I 
named  our  resting-place  Camp  Tooktoo  (the  Eskimo 
word  for  deer),  and  here  I  wrote  my  instructions  for 
the  Inland  Ice  party,  appointing  Astriip,  the  most  ex- 
perienced snow  and  ice  traveller  of  my  party,  leader 
of  the  little  expedition. 

The  object  of  the  party,  consisting  of  Astriip,  Gib- 
son and  Verhoeff,  was  to  establish  a  depot  of  pemmi- 
can,  biscuit,  and  milk,  across  Prudhoe  Land  near  the 


i;;o 


Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice 


southern  angle  of  the  Humboldt  Glacier.  This  depot 
was  for  the  use  of  my  ad\'ance  party  of  next  spring, 
and  was  to  be  located  preferably  upon  a  nunatak  if 
such  could  be  found  in  the  neighbourhood. 

Astriip  and  his  party  were  to  have  ample  rations 
for  twenty  days  for  their  own  use,  and  I  thought  they 
could  probably  aclvance  the  depot  one  hundred  miles 
in  this  time — /.  c,  cover  the  same  distance  that  I  had 
in  '86. 

.Saturday  morning,  after  our  first  night  in  camp, 
Astrup  went  up  the  slopes  to  the  ice-cap  to  select  the 
best  route  for  carrying  up  the  provisions.      The  rest  of 


FOETAL   GLACIERS. 

South  Shore  McCoriiiick  Day. 


the  party  went  after  the  deer  killed  the  night  before, 
and  returned  with  it  and  another.  Astrup  returned  in 
about  six  hours  with  a  favourable  report.      He  estim- 


132       Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

ated  the  distance  from  the  camp  to  the  edge  of  the 
ice-cap  at  less  than  four  miles. 

That  night  it  looked  very  threatening  down  at  the 
mouth  of  the  bay,  and  Sunday  morning  was  raw  and 
disagreeable,  the  outer  half  of  the  bay  hidden  in  fall- 
ing snow.  The  I  nland-I  ce  party  and  Dr.  Cook  started 
up  the  bluffs  with  loads  varying  from  fifty-two  to 
fifty-eight  pounds.  They  returned  in  four  or  five 
hours,  and  I  had  the  boat  turned  bottom  up  and  sent 
them  into   their  bags  under  it.     About    four  p.m.,   I 


FIRST   HANGING   GLACIER. 


turned  them  out  and  started  them  up  the  bluffs 
with  a  second  load.  Returning  from  this  trip  not 
long  before  midnight,  thoroughly  tired,  they  all  turned 
in  under  the  boat.  Meanwhile,  Ikwa  had  obtained 
another  deer.  Throughout  the  day  it  snowed  at  the 
entrance  of  the  bay. 

Monday  was  a  repetition  of  Sunday's  stormy  weather. 
I  let  the  boys  sleep  during  the  morning,  and  not  until 


Boat  and  Sledge  Trips  133 

eleven  a.m.  did  I  tell  them  to  get  their  last  loads 
ready,  break  camp,  and  put  the  boat  in  the  water  for 
my  return  to  Red  Cliff  House.  By  the  time  this  was 
done  and  the  boys  had  filled  themselves  with  venison, 
roasted  at  a  fireplace  which  I  had  improvised  under 
the  bank,  with  an  old  box  for  fuel,  it  was  nearly  four 
P.M.,  and  the  wind  was  whistling  over  our  heads  and 
down  the  bay  at  the  liveliest  rate.  Dr.  Cook  went 
with  the  three  Inland-Ice  men  to  carry  a  load,  and  I 
told  him  to  return  as  soon  as  possible,  so  that  we 
could  start  for  the  house  and  get  out  over  the  dyke 
of  rocks  before  the  tide  fell  too  low.  Hardly  had  the 
four  men,  with  their  loads,  disappeared  over  the  ridge, 
when  the  excitement  began.  I  was  a  cripple  hobbling 
around  on  crutches,  and  had  with  me,  besides  Mrs. 
Peary,  only  an  Eskimo  who  understood  no  word  of 
English. 

Before  starting  away,  the  boys  had  placed  the  boat 
in  the  water,  and  had  carried  the  masts  and  sails  down 
and  put  them  into  her.  She  was  now  lying  at  the 
foot  of  the  bank  in  front  of  our  camp,  fastened  by  the 
painter  tied  round  a  stone.  We  commenced  stowing 
the  various  articles  about  camp  in  her  so  as  to  have 
everything  in  readiness  to  start  for  Red  Cliff  as  soon 
as  Dr.  Cook  came  down  from  the  bluffs.  While  we 
were  engaged  in  this  work  and  were  all  three  up  by 
the  camp  picking  up  a  few  last  things,  a  furious  and 
sudden  squall  swept  down  the  valley,  and  catching 
the  boat  drove  her  several  )'ards  away  from  the  shore, 
dragging  her  stone  anchor  after  her.  As  luck  would 
have  it,  also,  Ikwa's  kayak  had  been  tied  to  the  boat, 
and  it,  too,  was  beyond  our  reach.  The  masts  having 
been  stepped  by  the  boys,  as  I  feared  this  operation 
would  be  rather  difficult  for  Mrs.  Peary  and  Ikwa, 
the  boat  offered  considerable  surface  to  the  wind,  and 
each  succeeding  gust,  sweeping  down  the  valley  with 


134       Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

the  fury  that  only  arctic  squalls  from  the  ice-cap  can 
attain,  was  gradually  driving  the  boat,  anchor  and  all, 
farther  and  farther  from  shore.  If  the  boat  passed 
across  the  narrow  lagoon  between  the  shore  and  the 
dyke  of  the  glacier  moraine,  I  knew  her  anchor  would 
hang  like  a  plummet  at  the  end  of  the  painter,  and 
the  boat,  with  nothing  to  hold  her,  would  disappear 
through  the  driving  snow,  to  be  dashed  to  pieces  on 
the  rocks  of  the  northern  shore  of  the  bay,  or  driven 
out  into  mid-sound. 


PACKING    SUPPLIES    TO    THE    ICE-CAP. 

The  prospect  was  not  a  pleasant  one,  as  the  boat 
had  on  board  everything,  and  the  hfteen-mile  journey 
to  Red  Cliff  House  along  the  rocky  shore  would  have 
been  a  work  of  days  for  me  in  my  crippled  condition. 
Although  the  water  in  the  lagoon  was  now  only  per- 
haps waist-deep,  Ikwa,  with   the  well-known   Eskimo 


Boat  and  Sledge  Trips 


135 


dislike  for  this  t-leinent,  refused  to  <^o  into  it.  but  in- 
stead, endeavoured,  with  his  rawhide  walrus  line,  to 
lasso  the  boat  and  thus  dratj  her  in.  Unfortunately 
the  distance  was  too  t^^reat.  and  cast  after  cast  of  the 
line  was  made,  without  success.  The  boat  all  this  time 
was  being  gradually  dragged  farther  and  farther  away 
from  the  shore. 


DASHING    UPON    THE    WALRUS. 


.Suddenly  the  idea  occurred  to  Mrs.  Peary  of  put- 
ting on  the  Doctor's  long-legged  rubber  boots,  and 
clad  in  these  she  rushed  out  into  the  water  as  far  as 
possible,  and,  after  two  or  three  unsuccessful  attempts, 
was  fortunate  in  getting  a  loop  of  the  line  round  the 
stem  of  the  whale-boat,  which  she  and  Ikwa  then 
dragged  in  to  the  shore  and  made  fast.  Not  until 
this  was  done  did  I  learn  that  the  presence  of  holes 
in  each  of  the  Doctor's  boots  had  rendered  them  no 


136       Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

protection  whatever,  and  that  she  had  practically  been 
standing  there  nearly  waist-deep  in  the  freezing  water, 
with  the  snow  whistling  about  her,  while  she  lassoed 
the  truant  boat. 

After  the  boat  had  been  recovered  and  the  wind  had 
apparently  subsided,  we  all  got  into  the  boat  and  I  let 
her  drop  outside  the  lagoon  so  as  not  to  be  caught  in  it 
by  the  falling  tide.  Scarcely,  however,  were  we  in  deep 
water,  where  the  anchor  could  be  of  no  use,  than  the 
wind  fell  upon  us  again  and  drove  us  out  into  the 
bay.  I  tried  to  have  Ikwa  step  the  foremast  again 
(both  masts  having  been  unstepped  when  the  boat 
was  dragged  ashore),  so  I  could  get  sail  on  her;  but 
after  two  or  three  unsuccessful  attempts,  in  one  of 
which  he  let  the  mast  fall  across  my  broken  leg,  the 
effort  was  given  up,  and  he  and  I  settled  down  to  the 
oars,  with  Mrs.  Peary  at  the  tiller,  and  devoted  our  ut- 
most energies  to  working  the  boat  into  the  comparative 
shelter  of  the  cliffs  guarding  the  eastern  side  of  the  Sun 
Glacier,  and  then,  inch  by  inch,  we  crept  back  to  the 
shore  until  we  could  drop  our  anchor  just  inside  the 
moraine  dyke.  I  shall  not  soon  forget  my  feeling  of 
relief  when  I  found  that  we  were  secure  after  our 
three  hours'  struggle  with  the  gale.  Those  who  have 
not  had  the  experience  will  probably  have  difhculty 
in  understandintr  the  sensations  of  one  who,  havino- 
always  been  accustomed  not  only  to  feel  the  utmost 
confidence  in  his  own  powers  to  extricate  himself  from 
a  disagreeable  predicament,  but  also  to  feel  that  he  had 
a  reserve  force  which  could  be  devoted  to  the  assist- 
ance of  others,  finds  himself  not  only  helpless  to 
assist  those  near  and  dear  to  him,  but  almost  entirely 
unable  to  take  care  of  himself. 

We  were  just  beginning  to  get  very  chilly  when  we 
heard  the  Doctor's  shout  from  the  bank  above  us, 
and  looking  up   through   the   blinding  snow,  saw  him 


Boat  and  Sledge  Trips 


^2,7 


returninor  from  the  bluff.  He  was  speedily  on  board. 
Then,  hoisting  the  Mary  Peary  s  foresail,  we  went  dash- 
ing down  the  bay  towards  Red  Cliff  House,  leaving 
a  wake  of  foam  through  which  Ikwa's  kayak  bobbed 
and  tumbled  like  a  sportive  alligator.  Everything 
went  well  until  we  reached  the  Hanging  Glacier, 
when,  after  a  few  moments'  calm,  the  wind  fell  upon 


MRS.    PEARY. 


us  from  dead  ahead,  and  threatened  to  drive  us  back 
to  the  head  of  the  bay  in  spite  of  our  utmost  efforts. 
Sheering  the  boat  in  to  the  shore,  we  cast  anchor, 
and  crouching  under  our  rubber  blankets,  put  up  to 
break  the  force  of  the  furious  wind,  we  waited    till 


138       Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

nearly  morning,  when  the  wind  subsided  sufificiently 
to  enable  us  to  take  to  the  oars  and  gradually  work 
the  boat  down  to  Red  Cliff  House. 

As  I  slowly  hobbled,  with  the  Doctor's  assistance, 
from  the  boat  up  through  the  snow  to  Red  Cliff 
House,  I  promised  myself  that  I  should  never  leave 
it  again  until  in  full  possession  of  my  wonted  physi- 
cal energies  ;  yet  the  inaction  at  the  house  was  worse 
than  possible  mishaps,  and  two  days  later  I  was  again  in 
the  boat  bound  for  the  head  of  the  ba)',  after  the  re- 
mainder of  the  herd  of  deer  which  we  had  seen  on  our 
first  trip.  Mrs.  Peary,  Dr.  Cook,  Matt,  and  Ikwa  ac- 
companied me  this  time,  leaving  only  Ikwa's  wife  and 
her  two  children  at  Red  Cliff  House.  Landing  at  the 
Hanging  Glacier  for  our  lunch,  for  a  moment  I  was 
startled  by  seeing  footprints  on  the  beach,  which  Ikwa, 
without  a  moment's  hesitation,  pronounced  V'erhoefif's. 
P'ollowing  these  tracks,  however,  for  a  short  distance, 
I  found  them  accompanied  b)'  two  others,  but  as  all 
the  tracks  showed  no  indications  of  injury  or  even 
fatigue,  I  at  once  came  to  the  conclusion  that  the 
boys  had  simply  returned  after  ha\ing  encountered 
some  obstacle  on  the  Inland  Ice.  On  this  trip  fort- 
une smiled  upon  us,  and  in  two  or  three  days  Matt 
and  Ikwa  had  brought  to  camp  nine  fine  deer.  Re- 
turning with  my  load  of  venison  and  skins  to  Red 
Cliff  House,  I  heard  the  boys'  story  of  their  experi- 
ence on  the  ice-cap,  and  then  sent  them  to  the  head 
of  the  bay  in  the  Faith  to  bring  back  their  equipment. 

The  attempt  to  establish  an  advance  supply  depot 
had  not  been  a  success.  The  sledge  part)-  returned  to 
Red  Cliff  on  September  12th,  reporting  that  soft  snow 
made  sledge-hauling  very  arduous  work.  They  could 
drag  only  one  sledge  at  a  time,  and  being  compelled 
to  double  on  their  tracks,  they  made  only  one  mile  on 
September  8th,  reaching  an  altitude  of  2300  feet.      A 


Boat  and  Sledge  Trips 


139 


snow-storm  and  high  wind  kept  them  in  camp  on 
September  9th.  The  next  morning,  the  hauHng  was 
worse  than  ever,  and  they  made  only  a  mile  by  noon. 
After  reconnoitring  three  miles  ahead  and  finding  no 
prospect  of  better  sledging,  they  deposited  one  of  the 
sledge  loads  on  a  nunatak  at  an  elevation  of  2600 
feet  above  the  sea,  and  returned  home  without  their 
sledges  or  sleeping-gear. 


WALRUS. 


On  September  2 2d,  1  sent  Astriip  and  Gibson  to 
the  head  of  the  bay  again,  to  attain  the  Inland  Ice,  and 
study  the  condition  of  travel  as  far  north-east  as  possi- 
ble. After  dragging  their  sledges  for  five  days  and 
attaining  an  altitude  of  about  4600  feet,  they  decided 
to  return,  owing  to  snow-squalls,  high  winds,  and  hard 
hauling.  The  thermometer  was  broken  on  the  third 
day  out,  and  the  lowest   temperature   recorded   up  to 


I40       Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

that  time  was  2°  F.  Astrijp  estimated  they  had  made 
about  thirty  miles  inland.  They  turned  back  the  day 
after  they  lost  sight  of  land.  They  were  warm  enough 
when  walking,  and  Astriip  believed  the  lowest  tem- 
perature was  not  more  than  —  10°  F.,  and  it  was  higher 
in  their  snow  huts. 


WALRUS    HEAD. 


As  a  result  of  this  futile  attempt  upon  the  Inland 
Ice,  my  sledge  party  the  following  spring  travelled  to 
the  north-east  coast  of  Greenland  and  back,  over  1 200 
miles,  entirely  without  depots,  and  carrying  their 
entire  supplies,  except  the  musk-ox  meat  obtained  on 
the  shores  of  the  Arctic  Ocean. 

While  the  sledge  party  was  away  on  its    second 


Boat  and  Sledge  Trips  Hi 

journey,  Mrs.  Peary,  Dr.  Cook,  Matt,  Ikwa,  and 
myself' started  in  the  Mary  Peary  on  September  23d, 
for  Inglefield  Gulf,  provisioned  for  a  week,  to  learn 
the  prospects  for  game  in  that  direction,  and  intro- 
duce ourselves,  if  possible,  to  more  of  the  Eskimos. 
Rounding  Cape  Cleveland,  the  north  shore  of  Murchi- 
son  Sound  stretched  away  before  us,  a  broad  trap- 
dyke  running  up  the  slope,  and  a  long,  steep  bank  of 
detritus  forming  the  shore.  A  few  eiders  were  flymg 
about,  and  new  ice  was  forming  in  the  Sound.  We 
pushed  on  until  nearly  two  p.m.,  when  we  were  stopped 
by  new  ice  a  half-inch  in  thickness.  As  the  ice  was 
too  thick  to  pull  through,  we  skirted  it  to  the  south- 
west in  the  direction  of  Herbert  Island  ;  but  did  not 
succeed  in  finding  an  opening  through  which  we  could 
advance  farther  eastward.  It  was  not  long,  however, 
before  we  had  plenty  of  excitement  to  divert  our 
thoughts  from  the  difficulties  of  navigation. 

On  a  large  cake  of  ice  we  saw  fifteen  walrus  enjoy- 
ino-  the  air.  I  lost  no  time  in  making  for  them.  They 
did  not  seem  to  mind  our  approach,  and  did  not  wake 
up  to  the  expediency  of  vacating  their  fragment  of 
ice  until  we  had  fairly  run  our  boat  upon  the  cake. 
Then  the  shores  reverberated  with  the  unwonted 
sound  of  rifle-shots,  and  Ikwa,  poising  his  harpoon 
a  moment,  hurled  it  deep  into  the  side  of  a  female, 
who,  with  her  young,  tumbled  into  the  water. 

We  barely  escaped  capsizing,  as  the  prow  of  my 
boat  was  jerked  off  the  ice  by  the  now  desperate  ani- 
mal, and,  before  we  knew  it,  we  were  in  tow,  scuddmg 
through  the  water  at  a  lively  pace,  behind  the  har- 
pooned walrus. 

It  was  a  picture  full  of  action.  The  frightened  and 
infuriated  walrus,  dashing  here  and  there  among  the 
icebergs  and  cakes  of  ice  that  covered  the  surface  of 
the  Sound  ;  the  Mary  Peary  in  tow,  her  sharp  bow 


142       Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

crunchini;-  through  the  crust  of  new  ice  ;  Dr.  Cook 
standiiiiT  in  the  bow  of  the  boat  over  the  sintrine  Une. 
ready  to  cut  it  should  the  animal  make  a  dive  under 
one  of  the  bers^s  or  cakes  of  ice  ;  and  Matt  and  my- 
self endeavouring,  as  best  we  could,  from  the  motion 
of  the  boat  and  the  erratic  movements  of  the  animal, 
to  get  a  bullet  into  its  head  and  stop  its  career.  It 
was  a  long  tow  in  spite  of  our  efforts  to  bring  it  to  an 
end,  but  finally  we  killed  both  the  wounded  brute  and 
her  young,  and,  turning  about,  we  went  back  to  the 
ice-cake,  where  we  secured  the  heads  of  the  two  wal- 
rus we  had  left  dead  there. 

Our  appetite  for  sport  had  been  only  whetted  by 
this  adventure,  and  we  had  a  new  and  still  more  ex- 
citing experience  a  few  minutes  later.  We  suddenly 
ran  into  a  school  and,  blazing  away,  we  killed  two  of 
the  animals.  The  rest  of  them  resented  our  intru- 
sion, and  we  suddenly  became  the  hunted  instead  of 
the  hunters.  There  were,  perhaps,  one  hundred  of 
the  enraged  brutes,  and  we  had  the  hardest  kind  of 
work  to  keep  them  away  from  the  boat.  Our  repeat- 
ers blazed  continuously,  and  to  add  to  the  din,  Ikwa 
beat  a  lively  tattoo  on  the  boat  with  his  harpoon  and 
emitted  the  most  startling  yells.  Mrs.  Peary  was  very 
cool  through  it  all,  and  slipping  down  from  her  seat 
beside  me  in  the  stern  into  the  bottom  of  the  boat, 
where  she  could  with  her  body  shield  my  injured  leg, 
now  knitting  in  the  splints,  from  the  excited  move- 
ments of  the  others,  she  steadily  filled  the  magazines 
of  our  Winchesters  as  they  were  emptied,  and  enabled 
us  to  keep  up  such  a  continuous  fire  that  the  huge 
brutes,  though  fiercely  and  repeatedly  led  to  the  charge 
by  a  big  bull,  could  not  stand  the  uninterrupted  blaze 
and  crash  from  our  repeaters,  and  at  last  we  gladly 
witnessed  their  departure,  and  then  counted  the  spoils 
of  battle. 


Boat  and  Sledge  Trips 


143 


We  had  four  walrus  heads  in  the  boats  and  at  least 
four  more  animals  had  been  killed  and  sunk  out  of 
sight.     We  were  glad  to  land  and  camp  for  the  night. 

Next  morning,  Dr.  Cook  and  Matt  started  to  walk 
east  along  the  shore  to  the  house  of  a  native  who, 
Ikwa  said,  lived  near  Cape  Ackland.  They  were  gone 
twelve  hours,  and  I  put  in  the  time  taking  bearings 
and  photographic  views  around  the  Sound. 

The   Doctor  and   Matt  returned  at  ten    p.m.,  and 


AMPHITHEATRE    BERG. 

Young  Ice  just  Forming. 

thought  they  had  walked  nearly  forty  miles.  They 
had  seen  no  natives,  but  had  found  four  stone  igloos, 
larger  than  others  we  had  .seen,  only  one  of  which 
seemed  to  have  been  recently  used.  They  fouml  the 
young  ice  farther  up  the  Sound  strong  enough  to 
walk  upon. 

As  the  new  ice  prevented  farther  progress,  and  we 
had  found  no  traces  of  deer  along  the  shore,  we  re- 


144       Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

turned  the  next  morning  to  Red  Cliff  House,  and  the 
day  following,  September  26th,  set  out  early  to  cross 
McCormick  Bay,  and  reconnoitre  for  deer  in  two  val- 
leys on  the  north  side.  Soon  after  leaving  Red  ClifY 
House  in  the  Alary  Peary,  we  met  new  ice,  and  were 
three  hours  pulling  through  it  to  the  north  shore. 
After  landing,  I  sent  Dr.  Cook  and  Matt  to  recon- 
noitre the  upper  valley.  Mrs.  Peary,  Ikwa,  and  my- 
self put  up  the  camp,  and  I  took  a  round  of  views  and 
bearings.  About  eight  p.m.,  the  boys  came  back  with 
two  deerskins  and  one  deer,  trophies  of  Matt's  rifle,  and 
after  a  hot  meal  they  brought  in  the  other  deer.  They 
were  unable  to  reach  the  upper  valley  on  account  of 
the  steep  shore,  and  they  reported  the  young  ice  much 
heavier  farther  up  the  bay.  It  was  a  calm,  clear,  lovely 
day  ;  and,  in  our  boat  tent  on  the  beach  that  night, 
we  enjoyed  the  sound,  refreshing  sleep  we  had  well 
earned. 

Next  morning.  Dr.  Cook  and  Matt  went  out  for 
the  skin  of  a  seal  Matt  had  shot,  and  when  they  re- 
turned we  launched  our  boat,  homeward  bound.  The 
ice  was  much  heax'ier  than  when  we  crossed  it  the  clay 
before.  With  m)-  crippled  leg  in  the  boat's  bow,  and 
the  other  hanging  over  the  side,  I  broke  ice  with  my 
heavily  booted  left  foot  during  the  seven  hours'  jour- 
ney. The  boat  was  forced  along  sometimes  by  boat- 
hooks,  and  sometimes  by  oars  driven  into  the  ice.  A 
day  later,  we  could  not  have  taken  the  boat  across. 
We  saw  numerous  walrus,  oogjook  and  ncfsook  seals. 
We  were  very  tired,  but  dinner  never  tasted  better 
than  the  glorious  repast  we  soon  spread  in  our  little 
cabin. 

The  days  were  growing  short  apace,  and,  having 
successfully  started  the  hunting  campaign,  we  gave 
much  attention  to  getting  the  house  ready  for  winter. 
On  Monday,  September  28th,  the  stove  was  put  up, 


Boat  and  Sledge  Trips 


145 


and  Ikwa  manifested  the  first  sign  of  astonishment 
at  anvthino-  he  had  seen.  When  the  fire  was  kindled 
in  the  stove,  and  the  flames  went  roaring  up  the 
pipe,  the  spectacle  startled  him  into  shouts  and  antics 
indicating  unbounded  surprise.  The  novelty  allured 
him  for  some  time  from  his  seal  and  walrus  spears 
and  sledge,  which  he  was  putting  in  order  for  the 
winter  campaign.  In  two  minutes  after  I  started 
the  fire,  the  temperature  in  the  house  had  run  up  to 
+90°    F.      Next   day,    the   ventilating   shafts,    double 


THE    BOAT    CAMP -EXTERIOR. 


windows,  and  other  details  about  the  house  received 
attention. 

On  October  ist,  I  established  our  camp  routine. 
Four-hour  watches  were  appointed.  Dr.  Cook,  Ver- 
hoeff,  Gibson,  and  Astriip  taking  turns. 

The  day  this  routine  went  into  effect,  I  had  the 
satisfaction  of  counting  fifteen  reindeer  in  my  larder ; 
and  a  few  days  more  would   see   hunting  full}-   re- 


146       Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

sumed,  for  the  bay  ice  was  rapidly  thickening",  the 
ice-foot  along  the  shore  was  forming  fast,  and  weeks 
of  orood  sledgingr. would  come.  The  svm  was  soon  to 
leave  us,  and  the  first  day  in  October  we  had  the 
benefit  of  its  rays  only  for  a  few  hours  late  in  the 
afternoon.  On  October  3d,  for  the  first  time,  I 
walked  nearly  a  half-mile  along  the  beach,  with 
neither  crutch  nor  cane. 


Hensoii. 


Dr.  Cook. 


Ikwab. 


THE    BOAT   CAMP- INTERIOR. 


Before  the  winter  night  came,  we  made  our  first 
sledge  trip  from  Red  ClilY  House.  It  was  on  the 
morning  of  October  "th  that  we  started  for  the  head 
of  McCormick  Bay,  to  hunt  deer  and  bring  back  the 
remainder  of  the  baggage  the  Inland- Ice  party  had 
left.  The  party  comprised  Mrs.  Peary,  Gibson,  A.s- 
triip,  Matt,  and  myself.      We  had  three  dogs  and  two 


Boat  and  Sledge  Trips  147 

sledges.  Near  the  first  Hanging  Glacier  we  picked 
up  the  sleeping-gear  the  boys  had  left,  and  after 
jumping  the  sledges  across  one  or  two  narrow  leads, 
and  travelling  at  top  speed  over  lanes  of  thin  ice 
which  surged  and  buckled  beneath  us,  we  reached 
the  ice-foot  again,  about  a  mile  from  the  head  of  the 
bay,  then  followed  it  to  "  Boat  Camp,"  an  eight 
hours'  journey  from  the  house.  Putting  up  our  tent, 
we  were  soon  ensconced  in  it,  wrapped  in  our  furs. 

Next  morning  the  boys  went  out  for  reindeer,  while 
I  lay  in  camp  all  day  with  a  tired  leg.  On  Friday, 
the  9th  inst.,  the  boys  brought  the  sledges  and  other 
impedimenta  of  the  Inland-Ice  trip  down  from  the 
plateau,  and  made  another  search  for  deer,  while  I  re- 
mained useless  in  camp.  We  were  having  a  few 
spurts  of  snow,  but  I  observed  that  there  was  not  so 
much  snow  at  the  head  of  the  bay  as  at  the  time  of 
my  previous  visit.  On  the  loth  inst.,  the  boys  made 
another  unsuccessful  raid  after  deer.  As  the  quest  for 
deer  was  .so  little  successful,  I  determined  to  return  to 
Red  Cliff.  Before  we  went,  though,  we  were  enter- 
tained by  the  calving  of  the  big  glacier  at  the  head  of 
the  ba)',  which  I  afterwards  named  the  Sun  Glacier. 

The  glacier  face  had  a  precipitate  front  about  a 
hundred  feet  high.  Far  up  the  wide  fjord  bordered 
by  steep  black  cliffs  that  rise  a  thousand  to  fifteen 
hundred  feet  above  the  big  ice  river,  we  could  see  the 
Inland  Ice  that  incessantly  feeds  the  glacier  and  by  its 
resistless  force  pushes  it  forward  into  the  sea.  The 
ice-front  had  advanced  to  deep  water  and,  as  we  looked, 
our  attention  attracted  by  ominous  sounds  from  the 
glacier,  a  great  mass  broke  off  with  a  thundering  re- 
port, dashing  water  and  spray  high  into  the  air  :  and 
the  new-born  berg  went  teetering  through  the  young 
ice,  which  it  shattered  far  around. 

On  one  of  the  lesser  glaciers  back  of  my  camp  was 


148       Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

a  big  blotch  of  red  colour,  sharply  contrasting  with  the 
white  surface,  and  streaming  down  the  glacier  face. 
So  vivid  was  this  colour  that  I  named  the  glacier  the 
Glacier  of  the  Scarlet  Heart. 


GLACIER    OF   THE    SCARLET    HEART. 

We  reached  Red  Cliff  House  after  a  five  hours'  trip 
from  the  head  of  the  bay.  The  Eskimo  dog  and  Jack 
pulled  Mrs.  Peary,  myself,  and  the  load,  aggregating 
about  five  hundred  pounds,  the  entire  distance  with 
comparative  ease.  I  determined  that  this  should  be 
my  last  trip  for  the  season,  as  I  found  I  was  in  no  con- 
dition to  undergo  severe  physical  exertion.  The  three 
months'  confinement  with  my  leg  had  affected  my  en- 
durance, and  the  letf  itself  s^ave  me  trouble  if  I  over- 
exerted. 

At  nine  r.M.  on  Sunday,  October  i  ith,  Gibson,  who 
was  on  watch,  reported  an  aurora.  It  was  a  pale, 
wavy  curtain  extending  nearly  north  and  south  across 
the  bay,  and  apparently  not  far  distant.     It  finally  dis- 


Boat  and  Sledge  Trips 


149 


appeared, — but  next  night  we  had  another  aurora,  ap- 
pearing at  eleven  o'clock  and  disappearing  three  hours 
later.  Although  our  hunting  trip  to  the  head  of  the 
bay  for  deer  had  not  been  successful,  we  were  all  much 
elated  by  the  splendid  results  of  an  excursion  on  Octo- 
ber 13th  to  Five  Glacier  Valley  on  the  north-east  side 


^ 

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wm.  _„--i 

THE    FIVE-GLACIER-VALLEY    PARTY. 
Starting. 

of  the  bay.  Gibson,  Astrijp,  and  Dr.  Cook  formed 
the  party,  and  they  did  not  return  until  five  days  later, 
when  they  arrived  at  the  house  with  ten  deerskins, 
a  fox,  and  a  hare.  They  had  cached  the  meat.  The 
Doctor  had  covered  himself  with  glory.  Up  to  this 
time  he  had  been  unfortunate  in  not  shooting  a  deer. 
Now  he  had  made  the  record  of  the  entire  expedition 
by  bagging  five  in  an  afternoon. 


150       Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

The  Mai-y  Peary  was  now  pulled  up  well  above 
high-water  mark,  turned  over,  supported  on  pillars  of 
ice,  and  a  snow  wall  built  around  her,  thus  converting 
her  into  a  storehouse. 

Monday  evening,  October  1 2th,  Matt  discerned  a 
light  directly  across  the  bay.  The  appearance  of  this 
light,  flickering  on  the  far-off  opposite  shore,  startled 
us  into  strange  fancies,  and  we  could  hardly  rid  our- 
selves of  the  idea  that  we  saw  before  us  the  fantastic 
lantern  of  some  arctic  Will-o'-the-wisp.  Unimagina- 
tive Ikwa  declared,  however,  that  this  faint  and  un- 
steadv  beam  undoubtedly  came  from  an  Innuit's  lamp 
and  that  he  would  probably  arrive  the  next  day.  Sure 
enough,  after  lunch  next  afternoon.  Mane  came  running 
into  the  house  with  the  cry  of  "  Innuit,"  and  through 
ni)-  glass  I  saw  a  man  with  a  sledge  and  three  dogs 
coming  across  the  bay,  and  before  long  the  lively  team 
dashed  over  the  ice-foot  and  was  at  our  camp.  The 
visitor's  name  was  Nowclingyah,  and  we  called  him 
Jumbo,  because  he  was  one  of  the  giants  of  his  peo- 
ple. Standing  five  feet  seven  inches  and  weighing 
over  I  75  pounds,  such  a  man  would  be  a  large  person 
in  any  costume,  and  in  Eskimo  outfit  he  loomed  up 
like  a  Colossus.  Nowdingyah  had  a  moustache  and 
goatee,  and  was  clad  in  a  fox-skin  jumper  and  bear- 
skin trousers.  My  visitor  seemed  to  be  favourably  im- 
pressed with  what  he  saw,  and  next  day,  accompanied 
by  Ikwa,  he  hastened  away  to  spread  the  news  among 
his  neighbours  ;  and  only  three  twilight  days  elapsed 
before  Nowdingyah  returned,  bringing  with  him  two 
fellow  tribesmen,  Kahunah  and  Arrotoksuah,  with  their 
sledges  and  six  dogs.  The  latter  was  an  old  man,  whose 
placid,  benign  face,  and  throat  fringe  of  white  bear- 
skin elicited  from  my  irreverent  young  men  the  nick- 
name 1))'  which  he  was  always  afterwards  known, 
"  Horace    Greeley."     They    soon    returned    to    their 


Boat  and  Sledge  Trips 


151 


igloos  to  the  north-westward,  but  on  October  25th, 
Kahunah  with  his  wnfe  and  three  children  and  Arro- 
toksuah  with  his  wife  and  one  child  came  over  the 
ice  to  me  with  two  sledges  and  only  two  dogs,  the 
entire  party,  excepting  fhe  infant,  walking.  I  per- 
mitted the  newcomers  to  sleep  on  the  floor  of  the 
house. 


THE    FIVE-GLACIER-VALLEY    PARTY. 

Returning  Oct.  iSth. 

We  found  that  "  Horace  Greeley's  "  wife  w^as_  a 
character.  Gaunt  and  tall  in  figure,  browm  and  Avrin- 
kled  of  face,  she  went  into  hysterics  of  laughter  at 
the  sight  of  Mrs.  Peary,  and  when  seated  beside  the 
stove  at  Red  Cliff,  she  fell  into  such  a  paroxysm  of 
volubility,  regardless  of  the  fact  that  none  of  us  un- 
derstood a  word  she  was  saying,   that   she  at  once 


152       Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

received  the  endearing  name  of  "  Sairey  Gamp." 
This  old  couple  had  been  at  Polaris  House  and  still 
possessed  some  articles  given  them  by  members  of 
Dr.  Hall's  party.  Among  these  were  a  sextant  box 
and  a  strine  of  beads. 


NOWDINGYAH. 


Late  on  November  ist,  another  family  arrived, 
Annowkah,  his  wife  Megipsu,  and  their  baby,  from 
Nerke,  far  to  the  north-west  towards  Cape  Alexander, 
where  they  were  living  in  their  solitary  hut  nearer  to 
the  Pole  than  any  other  human  beings  in  the  world. 
They  were  a  clean,  well-dressed,  good-looking  young 
couple  ;  the  woman  particularly  intelligent  and  bright 
in  appearance. 

We  called  Megipsu  "  The   Daisy."     The  little  wo- 


Boat  and  Sledge  Trips  153 

man  was  shrewd  enough  to  perceive  at  once  the  ad- 
vantages of  becoming  an  attache  of  my  mansion,  and 
she  proved  such  a  fine  seamstress  and  worked  herself 
so  completely  into  our  good  graces,  that  I  finally  closed 
a  contract  with  her  to  settle  down  in  a  snow  igloo 
close  to  Red  Cliff  and  remain  with  us  until  the  return 
of  the  sun,  making  up  our  fur  clothing-  and  sleeping- 
bags. 

Annowkah  went  to  work  with  a  will  upon  the  con- 
struction of  a  snow  igloo,  and  soon  had  it  roofed  in. 
Then  the  interior  was  upholstered  with  a  rubber 
blanket,  an  overcoat  which  The  Daisy's  winning  ways 
had  obtained  from  Matt,  a  blanket  contributed  by 
Gibson,  and  some  pieces  of  tarred  roofing  paper. 
Pieces  of  blubber  from  my  stock  furnished  the  oil  for 
an  impromptu  lamp  made  from  the  side  of  a  cracker 
tin,  and  my  seamstress  and  her  husband  were  made 
entirely  comfortable  until  he,  with  the  assistance  of 
my  dogs,  could  bring  over  from  their  distant  home 
their  household  utensils  and  supplies  of  food.  Here 
they  lived  until  the  warm  May  sun  threatened  to 
tumble  their  house  in  upon  their  heads,  when  they 
moved  to  their  skin  tent,  or  tupik. 

The  first  Eskimo  to  reach  my  camp  with  a  team 
of  dogs  found  an  eager  purchaser  for  the  animals, 
and  for  some  trifling  presents  he  parted  with  his 
dogfs  and  went  home  on  foot.  Both  Ikwa  and 
Nowdingyah  said  the  Eskimos  had  a  good  many 
dogs,  and  the  prospect  seemed  favourable  for  obtain- 
ing an  excellent  dog  team  for  the  spring  sledging. 
As  the  result  of  a  systematic  series  of  interviews  with 
the  natives  who  came  to  Red  Cliff,  I  had,  when  the 
spring  of  1892  dawned  upon  us,  in  my  possession 
information  as  to  the  location  and  ownership  of  prob- 
ably every  dog  in  the  tribe,  and  knew  also  the  finan- 
cial rating  of  their  owners  (if  such  a  term    may  be 


154       Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

used)  ;  in  other  words,  I  knew  just  what  each  one's 
possessions  were,  and  also  what  each  one  most  desired, 
and  what  would  be  most  effective  in  bartering  for  the 
dogs. 

Occasionally  snow-squalls  visited  us  during  Octo- 
ber, though  the  weather  was  generally  pleasant.  On 
October  3d,   the  young  ice  was  strong  enough   for 


"HORACE    GREELEY"   AND    "SAIREY   GAMP." 

Ikwa  to  walk  half-way  across  the  bay.  Cape  Rob- 
ertson, on  the  opposite  shore,  was  clad  in  a  goodly 
mantle  of  white.  November  3d,  the  ice  in  front  of 
the  house,  150  feet  from  the  shore,  was  seventeen 
inches  thick.  Ice  was  still  floating  in  the  strait  be- 
tween Herbert  and  Northumberland  Islands  and 
Netiulume  on  the  south  shore  of  Whale  Sound. 
All  throug-h  October  the  sun  was  sinkingr  nearer 


Boat  and  Sledge  Trips  i55 

and   nearer    the   horizon,    till   it   sank    out    of   sight. 
October   loth,  it  appeared  from  behmd  Cape  Cleve- 
iluA   M   ^-lo  PM     very  low  and  much  distorted  by 
Srac    on      On'the    i^th-  sunlight    illumined    Cape 
Robertson   across  the  bay  about   2:30,  p.m.,  and  we 
observed  a  beautiful  effect  of  the  sun  s  rays  tmtmg 
the  white  icebergs  in  Omenak  Sound   and  .Uummmg 
for  Tshort  time   the  hills  across  the  bay.     Owmg  to 
doudv  weather,  we  did  not  observe  the  actual  time  of 
he  sun's  disappearance.     The  ist  of  November  found 
us  well  started  on  our  winter  night      At  seven  a.m 
however,  on  a  clear  day,  I  was  still  able  to  distinguish 
?he  mountains  at  the  head  of  the  bay.     1  he  moon, 
when  at  the  full,  was  very  brilliant. 

On  November  7th,  there  were  seventeen  men,  wo- 
men, and  children  besides  our  party  at  the  camp,  and 
Se  howling  of  twenty-one  dogs  made  th^  "igh    1-    • 
Mv  little  city  was  growing  nearly  every  day      it  could 
not  preserve  its  cosmopolitan  character  without  some 
sort  o  a  substitute  for  1  hotel.     So  on  November  i  uK 
a  snow  hut,  6x10  feet  in  size,  was  built  as  a  hospitable 
miest-chamber  for  my  visiting  friends. 
^  Meanwhile,  all  through  the  darkening  days  we  we  e 
working  about   the  house.     I    fitted    up  my  library 
I^^elvesT   made    a    writing-desk,    and    busied    m>self 
with  many  odds  and  ends  that  were  likely  to  add  to 
our  comfort  during  the  winter  night.     Mrs.    f  eary 
decorated  our   room   with   flags,    producing    qui  e    a 
pretty  effect.     The  boys  began  making  sledges  from 
Smber  I   had  brought  along,  odometers  to  mea..u^ 
the  distance  travelled  on  our  coming  sledge  journeys 
and  pumps  for  use  in  the  whale-boats  during  the  next 
^liLr's' homeward  voyage;  and  I    spent  cons    er- 
able  time  putting  in  order  my  little  arsenal,  the  use- 
fulness   of    which    had    become    somewhat    impaired 
through  accidents. 


CHAPTER  V. 

THROUGH    THE    GREAT    NIGHT. 

Mv  Priceless  Deerskins — First  Impressions  of  the  Winter  Night — Our 
Thanksgiving  Dinner — The  Natives  Vanquished  in  Feats  of  Strength 
— "  Open  the  Door  "  the  Common  Cry  at  Red  Cliff — Piblockto — Daily 
Routine — Recording  the  Arctic  Tide — Experiments  with  Sledges  and 
Sleeping-Bags — Arctic  Literature — Our  Busy  Native  Seamstresses — 
Taking  Flash-Lioht  Photographs — Modesty  of  the  Native  Women — 
Brilliant  and  Beautiful  Winter  Days — Ski  Practice. 


AHNGODOBLAHO. 


CHAPTER  V. 


THROUGH    THE    GREAT    NIGHT. 


THE  hunting  season 
ended  when  dark- 
ness came  upon 
us,  and  we  settled  down 
in  our  small  quarters  for 
the  winter. 

I  regarded  the  deer- 
skins we  had  secured  as 
of  the  highest  value.  Be- 
fore I  left  home  I  had 
-,aid  that  nothing  but  the 
impervious  integument  of 
animal  skin  would  keep  out  the  searching  wind  of  the 
Inland  Ice,  and  every  day  spent  here  only  strength- 
ened me  in  my  belief,  and  made  me  prize  more  highly 
the  exquisitely  soft,  light,  velvety  autumn  pelts  of 
the  reindeer,  the  best  of  all  furs  for  clothing  and 
sleeping-bags. 

It  was  a  part  of  my  plan  to  obtain  this  material 
from  the  Whale-Sound  region,  and  my  hopes  were 
fully  realised.  My  men  shot  all  the  deer  we  needed, 
the  skins  were  stretched  and  dried  at  Red  Cliff,  I  de- 
vised and  cut  the  patterns  for  the  suits  and  sleeping- 
bags,  and  the  native  women  sewed  them. 

The  work  of  preparing  the  skins  for  clothing  in- 

159 


i6o        Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

volved   a  great   deal  of  chewing  on   the  part  of  my 
native  seamstresses. 

The  skin  is  folded  once  with  the  hair  inside  and 
then  the  operator  chews  back  and  forth  along  the 
edge  until  the  fold  is  thoroughly  soft  and  pliable, 
when  another  fold  is  made  and  the  process  repeated 
until  the  whole  skin  has  been  carefully  chewed  ;  after 
this  it  is  scraped  and  worked  with  a  blunt  instrument 
and  then,  if  necessary,  chewed  again.  It  took  two  of 
my  workers  about  a  day  to  chew  a  big  buckskin. 


1 

J 

iJH, 

/ 

-  ijl 

fldP^F^ 

k 

I  .  :  '7. 

21^ 

iwfiiP 

RED    CLIP'F    IN     I  HE    WiNlt-K    NIGH  I. 

It  was  not  easy  at  first  for  us  to  accustom  ourselves 
to  the  absence  of  sunlight.  By  November  23d,  there 
was  really  no  difference  indoors  between  day  and 
night.  Our  lamps  burned  constantly  through  the 
twenty-four  hours.  Some  of  us  often  thought  in  the 
first  few  days,  "  Oh,  we  won't  do  this  by  lamplight, 


Through  the  Great  Night 


i6i 


but  we  '11  wait  till  to-morrow,"  forgetting  that  the 
morrow  would  bring  no  sun.  Still,  we  did  not  find 
the  darkness  oppressive,  which  was  fortunate,  for  we 
were  not  to  have  our  darkest  day  for  a  month  to 
come.  The  darkest  day  of  winter  would  reach  us 
about  December  22d,  and  we  would  not  see  the  sun 
again  until  about  February  13th.  At  nine  a.m.  now, 
the  dawn-light  was  very  distinct  over  the  cliffs  back 
of  the  house,  and  at  eleven  o'clock  the  icebergs  beyond 
the  shadow  of  Cape  Cleveland  showed  a  pronounced 
light. 


IKWA'S    MANSION. 


We  had  many  reasons  to  be  thankful  for  the  good 
fortune  that  had  thus  far  attended  us,  and  I  thought 
we  could,  with  peculiar  propriety,  observe  the  day 
that  at  home  is  set  apart  in  recognition  of  our  na- 
tional and  domestic  blessings.  The  following  pro- 
clamation, therefore,  was  issued  at  Red  Cliff  House 
on  November  25th  : 


i62        Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

"  Thursday,  November  26th,  is  hereby  designated  as  Thanks- 
giving Day  at  Red  Cliff  House  and  will  be  observed  as  such. 
The  preservation  of  our  isolated  little  party  thus  far  in  good 
health,  a  larder  well  stocked  with  game,  and  a  house  well  fitted 
to  keep  its  inmates  comfortable  in  severest  weather,  are  reasons 
for  the  day  to  be  something  more  than  a  mere  form  to  us. 

"  R.  E.  Peary,  U.  S.  N., 
"  Commanding  North-Greenland  Expedition." 

Thanksgiving  Day,  Mrs.  Peary  and  I  walked  to 
Cape  Cleveland  to  see  as  much  as  possible  of  the 
noon  twilight.  The  temperature  was  —12^°  F.  It 
was  light  enough  for  comfortable  walking,  and  when  we 
reached  the  Cape,  the  southern  horizon  was  all  aglow. 

On  each  side  was  the  rosy  light  of  dawn  and  just 
over  the  channel  between  Herbert  and  Northumber- 
land Islands  hung  the  silver  crescent  moon. 

In  the  evening,  with  the  temperature  outside  at 
—  i6Jf°  F.,  we  sat  down  in  our  comfortable  little  cabin 
to  a  tempting  Thanksgiving  dinner  of  broiled  guille- 
mot dressed  with  green  peas,  a  venison  pie,  hot 
biscuit,  plum-pudding  with  brandy  sauce,  apricot  pan- 
dowdy, apple-pie,  pineapple,  candy,  coffee,  whiskey 
cocktail,  and  Rhine  wine.  The  party  all  appeared  in 
their  civilised  attire,  though  the  gentlemen  were  not 
in  dress-suits,  a  phase  of  costume  that  some  of  the 
newspapers  at  home  had  included  in  our  equipment. 
Astriip's  wardrobe  was  deficient  in  shirts  and  he  im- 
provised a  shirt  bosom  from  a  towel.  A  silk  flag  was 
fastened  over  the  table.  Later  our  Eskimo  friends 
shared  in  our  good  cheer  and  the  boys  and  the  natives 
amused  themselves  with  games  of  strength  until  far 
into  the  evening. 

December  ist  found  us  in  first-class  condition,  busy 
and  content.  As  yet  we  had  undergone  no  serious 
hardships.  The  month  was  ushered  in  with  a  brisk 
wind  and  a  snow-storm  that  lasted  for  twenty-four 
hours,   half  burying   Red   Cliff   House  in  drifts.      In- 


Through  the  Great  Night 


[63 


doors,  however,  we  were  burning  but  sixteen  cans  of 
coal,  averaging  i|-  pounds  each,  in  twenty-four  hours. 
I  do  not  know  that  any  arctic  house  was  ever  com- 
fortably warmed  before  on  so  small  an  amount  of 
fuel.  The  constant  cry  from 
the  inmates  was  not  "  Shut  the 
door  ! "  but  "  Open  the  door  ! " 
Our  little  cabin  was  a  great 
success,  and  under  its  shelter 
the  fiercest  blasts  of  the  arctic 
Storm  King  could  not  reach  us. 

Two  auroras  were  seen  on 
December  8th,  and  the  moon 
was  coming  back  to  us  again. 
After  eleven  days'  absence,  we 
saw  her  silver  glow  over  the 
cliffs  back  of  Red  Cliff  House, 
and  her  light  fell  on  the  north 
shore  of  the  bay.  Two  days 
later,  she  was  with  us  again 
in  full  brilliancy. 

On  December  19th,  we  had 
driftinof  snow,  and  a  strong 
wind  that  lasted  all  night  until 
late  the  following  afternoon. 
The  wind  drifted,  and  packed 
the  snow  until  it  was  almost  as 
firm  as  marble.  This  I  thought 
aueured  well  for  our  sledging 
trip  on  the  Inland  Ice  in  the 
spring.  On  December  21st, 
we  saw  a  brilliant  meteor  in  the  north-eastern  sky, 
descending  vertically,  and  a  little  later  a  meteor  with 
red  and  green  trail  was  seen  over  the  cliffs  back  of  the 
house,  travelling  west,  about  half-way  to  the  zenith  and 
with  a  slight  downward  ang^le.    December  2  ist  was  the 


MEGIPSU. 


164        Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

shortest  day  of  the  year  at  home,  and  the  boys  gaye 
three  cheers  by  wav  of  encouragement  to  the  sun, 
which  was  now  beginning  to  return  to  us. 

We  did  not  quite  escape  the  piblockto  or  Green- 
land dog  cHsease,  a  dread  disorder  that  at  times  has 
threatened  to  rob  the  poor  natives  of  one  of  their  most 
valuable  resources.  It  was  prevalent  in  South  Green- 
land over  thirty  years  ago,  and  when  it  attacked  the 
dogs  of  the  Arctic  Highlanders,  Dr.  Hayes  was  unable 
to  buy  the  sledge  teams  he  required.  No  remedy  has 
been  discovered  for  the  disease,  though  fortunately  its 
ravages  are  now  small.  Its  victims  betray  their  de- 
rangement by  howling  and  snapping,  and  refusing  all 
nourishment.  They  often  die  of  convulsions  on  the 
day  of  the  attack.  Annowkah's  dog  went  wild  with 
the  malady,  and  before  the  fact  was  discovered,  and 
the  dog  killed,  she  had  bitten  and  mangled  two  of  my 
younger  dogs  so  terribly  that  in  spite  of  Dr.  Cook's 
best  endeavours  we  lost  them  both.  Dogs  had  a  most 
important  part  in  my  plans,  and  I  was  very  sorry  to 
lose  the  two  animals.  Their  skins,  however,  gave  me 
material  for  a  nice  pair  of  trousers. 

Before  December  arrived,  I  had  quite  a  colony  of 
native  workers.  Megipsu  and  other  women  were  busy 
chewing  and  sewing  skins.  "  Father  Tom  "  and  An- 
nowkah  were  scraping  skins.  "  Father  Tom  "  also 
made  himself  very  useful  about  the  house,  sweeping 
the  floor  and  putting  things  in  order.  He  often 
remarked  that  he  wished  to  go  home  with  us  when 
we  returned,  but  he  changed  his  mind  before  summer. 
"  Father  Tom,"  on  the  whole  the  most  remarkable  na- 
tive we  met,  deserves  more  than  a  passing  word. 

He  was  Ikwa's  brother,  and  his  name  was  Kyoah- 
padu.  We  called  him  "  Kyo  "  for  short,  and  I  nick- 
named him  "  Father  Tom."  His  brother  brought  him 
to  us  from   his  home  in  Omanui  late  in   November, 


Through  the  Great  Night 


165 


and  he  at  once  became  a  fixture  at  Red  Cliff  House. 
Active  and  willing,  eager  to  be  of  service,  readily  un- 
derstanding us  when  other  natives  failed  to  compre- 
hend, he  soon  worked  his  way  into  our  good  graces. 
He  took  upon  himself  the  care  of  the  large  room, 
sprang  for  the  broom  whenever  he  saw  the  least 
dust  or  litter,  and  told  the  other  natives  they  must 

not  bring  dirt  in-  

to  the  palace  of 
the  "Great  White 
Man."  He  said 
his  brother's  igloo 
was  uncomfort- 
able for  him  be- 
cause it  was  so 
small  ;  moreover 
his  brother  talked 
too  much,  and  his 
verbosity  was  a 
weariness  to  the 
flesh.  So  Kyo 
asked  if  he  might 
sleep  on  our  floor, 
and  I  accordingly 
gave  him  a  couple 
of  blankets  and  let  him  curl  himself  up  at  night  in  a 
corner  of  the  big  room.  In  the  morning  he  would 
carefully  fold  his  blankets  and  deposit  them  in  an 
empty  box  outside. 

One  day  there  came  to  us  from  a  little  settlement 
to  the  north,  a  widow,  Klayu,  and  her  three  daugh- 
ters. They  were  with  us  only  a  few  days,  but  this 
was  long  enough  for  Kyo  to  become  enamoured  of  the 
widow  ;  and  one  star-lit  December  noon,  Kyo  sud- 
denly discovered  he  had  business  south,  and  went 
away  with  her.      He  told  us  he  was  going  for  his  deer- 


KYOAHPADU. 


i66       Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice 


skins  and  that  he  would  return  after   ten  siiuiipahs 

(sleeps). 

It  was  nearly  ten  times  ten  sinnipahs  before  we  saw 

his  oily  face  again.      He  seemed  very  ill  at  ease  when 

he  re-appeared  at 
Red  Cliff  House 
on  a  blustering 
March  day  ;  and 
a  little  later  the 
widow,  now  Kyo's 
wife,  reached  the 
camp  with  her 
daughters.  They 
settled  down  at 
Red  Cliff  and 
made  it  their 
home  until  we  de- 
parted on  the  Kite 
in  August. 

While  Kyowas 
away  we  heard 
some  remarkable 
stories  about  him. 
F"ew  spoke  well  of 
him.  By  most  of 
the  natives  he  was 
hated  and  feared. 
It  was  said  that  he 
had  murdered  a 
man  and  that  he 
had  twice  been  a 

widower,  having  killed  his  wives  ;  also  that  he  was  an 

atigakok  or  medicine-man  of  great  power. 

He  was  not  the  same  man  after  his  return  to  us. 

Perhaps  it  was  because  he  thought  he  had  lost  my 

confidence    by    remaining    away    so   long.     We  dis- 


'  tL'J  •'     .*--'-   'dJJ^L  I.J- 1  '--J.  L-L-.. 


|j^ 


'jSTON^  Kt^chois^ 


THE    TIDE    GAUGE. 


Through  the  Great  Night 


167 


covered  that  he  was  subject  to  fits  of  uncontrollable 
anger,  when  he  seemed  almost  insane.  Once  or  twice 
in  these  paroxysms  he  severely  cut  his  wife.  Yet, 
later,  as  my  driver  on  my  two-hundred-and-fifty-mile 
sledge  trip  around 
Inglefield  Gulf, 
he  was  most  obe- 
dient and  very 
attentive  to  the 
wants  both  of 
Mrs.  Peary  and 
myself. 

While  Astriip 
and  I  were  away 
on  our  ice-cap 
journey  to  the 
Arctic  Ocean, 
Kyo,  as  became  a 
mighty  angakok, 
often  went  into 
trances  and  saw 
visions,  during 
which  the  great 
expanse  of  the 
Inland  Ice  was 
spread  before  his 
spiritual  gaze: 
and  after  he  had 
returned  to  his 
fleshly  tabernacle 
he  would  regale 
Mrs.  Peary  with  stories  of  having  seen,  far  to  the  north, 
a  solitary  kohhmah  (white  man)  plodding  slowly  and 
painfully  southward,  and  that  this  wayfarer  was  not  the 
kapitansoak  (myself).  His  reputation  as  a  mighty 
aiigakok   was    damaged    beyond    repair   when    I    re- 


VERHOEFF    READING    TIDE    GAUGE. 


1 68        Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

turned  in  spite  of  his  predictions  of  disaster.  Just 
before  I  came  back,  he  had  threatened  to  kill  his  wife 
and  her  nearly  grown  daughter,  and  the  poor  women 
were  so  terrified  that  they  fled  to  a  distant  settlement, 
and  he  did  not  find  and  induce  them  to  return  to  him 
for  several  weeks. 

To  return  to  our  work  in  Red  Cliff  House.  Dr. 
Cook  experimented  with  seal-oil  lamps  for  melting  ice 
with  excellent  results  ;  and  every  day  brought  him 
other  tasks,  if  indeed  he  did  not  have  his  hands  full 
photographing  and  measuring  his  "  Huskies,"  as  the 
boys  familiarly  called  the  natives,  while  \'erhoefT, 
Gibson,  and  myself  built  and  put  in  commission  a 
self-registering  tide  gauge  which,  on  November  30th, 
was  erected  out  in  the  dark  and  silent  cold  to  record 
the  resistless  rise  and  fall  of  the  Arctic  Ocean.'  At 
this  time,  the  thickness  of  the  ice  in  the  bay  at  the 
tide-gauge  hole  was  twenty-six  inches.  When  a  light 
was  shown  at  the  hole,  myriads  of  shrimps  came  to  the 
surface,  and  as  the  light  was  turned  away  and  the 
water  stirred,  phosphorescent  flashes  appeared. 

Saturday  was  designated  as  general  cleaning  day. 

'  My  device  for  registering  the  winter  tides  was  erected  at  our  "  fire-hole,"  an 
opening  in  the  bay  ice  just  outside  of  the  ice-foot.  This  hole  was  kept  open 
throughout  the  winter  to  afford  a  supply  of  water  in  the  event  of  fire. 

The  tide  gauge  consistecl  of : 

First,  a  rigid  tripod  of  spruce  scantlings  erected  over  the  hole,  its  feet  frozen 
into  holes  cut  in  the  ice.  To  one  side  of  this  was  attached  a  vertical  plank 
some  twenty-two  feet  long,  with  feet  and  tenths  marked  upon  it. 

Second,  a  heavy  stone  lowered  through  the  hole  to  the  bottom,  and  from  it  a 
stout  copper  wire  passing  up  through  the  hole  over  a  pulley  in  the  top  of  the 
tripod,  then  over  another  at  the  top  of  the  graduated  plank,  thence  down  the 
face  of  the  plank  to  a  lead  counterpoise,  to  which  was  fasteneil  an  index  and 
guide  playing  upon  two  wires  strung  from  top  to  bottom  of  the  plank. 

The  anchor  and  wire  being  fixed,  and  the  framework  rising  and  falling  with 
the  ice  under  the  influence  of  the  tide,  the  movement  was  indicated  with  pre- 
cision by  the  index  passing  over  the  graduated  scale.  Cleats  attached  to  the 
scale  enabled  Verhoeff,  who  made  the  tidal  observations,  to  read  the  highest 
range  of  the  spring  tides  with  ease. 

This  device  gave  thorough  satisfaction,  though  in  very  low  temperatures  it  re- 
quired constant  care  to  keep  the  rapid  deposition  of  frost  from  the  vapour  of  the 
open  hole  from  clogging  the  pulleys  and  index.     (See  cut,  p.  i66.) 


Through  the  Great  Night 


169 


On  that  day,  immediately  after  coffee,  the  stovepipe, 
stove,  and  stove-hole  were  thoroughly  cleaned.  All 
bedding  was  then  taken  from  the  bunks,  and,  when 
the  weather  permitted,  carried  outside  to  air.  The 
entire  room  was  overhauled,  and  the  floor  thoroughly 
swept.  Every  Saturday  night  each  member  of  the 
party  was  required  to  take  a  bath. 

On  December  3d,  I  cut  out  the  first  sleeping-bag, 
and  in  a  day  "  Daisy  "  ( Megipsu)  had  it  nearly  finished. 
Verhoeff  and  I  devoted  ourselves  to  keeping  the  tide 
gauge  in  running  order.       The  slope  of  the  bottom 


"RED    CLIFF    WAS    SINKING    INTO    A    HUGE    DRIFT." 

was  a  little  less  than  one  inch  per  foot,  and  apparently 
the  motion  of  the  ice  was  more  rapid  here  than  it  was 
at  Fort  Conger. 

Red  Cliff  was  sinking  into  a  huge  drift  that  almost 
buried  it  from  view.  On  December  9th,  my  seam- 
stresses began  work  on  the  first  deerskin  koolctah,  or 
jacket.       The   last  skin   in   my  stock   had   now  been 


Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 


chewed,  and  all  the  skins  were  ready  to  be  made  up 
into  garments.  I  completed  a  sledge,  December  i  "th. 
We  took  a  good  deal  of  outdoor  exercise,  practising 
on  snow-shoes  and  ski,  visiting  the  iceberg  for  ice, 
which  was  melted  for  the  water  we  used,  and  attending 
to  the  fox-traps. 

Astrijp  and  I  made  two  or  three  odometers  and 
these  were  used  in  measuring  distances  about  Red 
ClifT. 

The  natives  were  coming  and  going  all  the  while. 
My  boys  irreverently  applied  nicknames  to  quite  a 
number  of  them.  Three,  for  instance,  were  known  as 
"  The    Priest,"     "  The  Villain,"  and    "  The  Smiler," 

owing  to  physical  pecu- 
liarities. The  Villain,  it 
should  be  said,  was  per- 
fectly harmless.  Then 
there  was  Ahningah- 
nah  (the  moon),  a  poor 
weak-minded  fellow. 
These  native  gentlemen 
one  evening  had  an  ath- 
letic contest  with  their 
white  friends,  which 
showed  the  members  of 
my  party  to  be  superior 
to  the  Eskimos,  both  in 
strength  and  agility. 
Megipsu  and  Annowkah,  who  earl)-  in  the  winter 
made  a  short  visit  to  their  home  at  Nerke,  returned 
with  a  young  girl  named  Tookumingwah.  Megipsu 
told  us  that  a  bear  had  visited  their  hut  and  eaten  one 
of  their  seals.  Tookumingwah,  whom  we  now  saw  for 
the  first  time,  was  a  twelve-year-old  girl  and  one  of 
the  prettiest  young  women  among  the  natives.  Her 
father    had    recently    been    drowned    by    an    oogsook 


THE    SMILER. 


Through  the  Great  Night  171 

(bearded  seal).  She  went  to  work  sewing  under  the 
guidance  of  "  Daisy,"  and  was  married  before  we  re- 
turned home. 

We  really  had  no  time 
during  the  winter  night 
to  grow  tired  of  the  dark- 
ness or  to  weary  of  our 
surroundings.  During 
the  winter  all  the  men 
of  my  party  emulated 
one  another  in  the  effort 
to  produce  the  best  prac- 
tical sledge.  Modelling 
the  sledges  in  a  general 
way  on  the  McClintock 
pattern,  I  found  we  could 
safely  reduce  the  weight 
two-thirds  or  more, 
weio-hed  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  pounds  or  more 
*'  apiece,  I  found  we  could 

turn  out  sledges  of  an 
equal  carrying  capacity, 
weighing  only  thirty-five 
to  forty-eight  pounds. 
Experiments  with  sleep- 
ing-bags,  too,  resulted  in 
'  a  complete  change  of 
equipment  in  this  re- 
spect. Our  sleeping-bags 
were  evolved  from  actual 
experience  in  sleeping 
out-of-doors  during  the 
winter  night.  My  assist- 
TooKUMiNGWAH.  ^^^^  entered  heartily  in- 

to the  work  of  preparation.     Each  was  eager  to  work, 
and  all    made  suggestions  of  value.     Every    minute 


AHNINGAHNAH. 

While    McClintock's   sledges 


1/2        Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

detail  of  our  preparations  was  scanned,  discussed, 
and  criticised.  The  activity  of  mind  and  expendi- 
ture of  physical  energy  which  all  this  called  for, 
helped  to  keep  us  well  in  body  and  cheerful  and  san- 
guine in  temper.  We  did  a  good  deal  of  reading. 
I  had  a  very  complete  arctic  library,  and  this  was 
chiefly  in  demand.  The  fact  that  we  were  living 
under  arctic  conditions,  whetted  the  appetite  of  my 
boys  for  records  of  Arctic  exploration.  All  these 
books  were  eagerly  devoured  for  the  story  they  con- 
tained, the  adventures  they  recorded,  and  the  useful 
hints  we  might  derive  from  them.  Somehow  we 
could  not  make  our  ideas  of  the  country,  the  natives, 
the  winter  night,  the  cold,  the  storms,  or  the  hard- 
ships agree  at  all  with  those  of  some  predecessors 
who  had  spent  a  season  not  very  far  from  McCormick 
Bay.  Viewed  in  the  light  of  our  own  experience, 
some  things  we  read  seemed  to  us  unjust,  particularly 
in  respect  of  the  happy,  simple-minded  natives,  with 
whom  our  relations  were  so  friendly  and  who  were  so 
helpful  to  us  ;  some  things  seemed  exaggerated  ;  and 
some,  in  spite  of  our  willingness  to  believe,  took  on 
the  aspect  of  pure  romance. 

Aside  from  our  study  of  the  natives,  they  afforded 
us  considerable  diversion.  Ikwa,  my  chief  Eskimo 
hunter,  derived  intense  delight  from  imitating  the 
sounds  of  our  language,  and  his  use  of  English  was 
very  amusing.  Megipsu,  or  "  Daisy,"  was  particu- 
larly bright,  and  gave  us  much  information  as  soon  as 
we  were  able  easily  to  exchange  ideas  with  her. 

Megipsu  was  the  head  seamstress  by  virtue  of  her 
superior  skill  and  rapidity.  Discarding  her  clumsy 
sealskin  thimble  for  one  of  American  make,  she  deftly 
plied  the  shiny  implement  of  her  trade.  Any  garment 
of  her  manufacture  was  honestly  made.  The  seams 
were  warranted  not  to  rip,  and  they  were  neatly  made, 


Through  the  Great  Night 


/J 


the  stitches  beiny^  even  and  so  close  together  that  the 
thread  entirely  hid  the  skin  beneath  them.  Tookum- 
ingwah,  the  twelve-year-old  beauty  of  the  tribe,  was 
also  an  industrious  little  seamstress.  No  thoughts  of 
the  coming  matrimonial  event,  which  was  to  give  her 
a  walrus  hunter  and  an  igloo  of  her  own,  impaired  her 
efficiency  as  assistant  tailoress.  Old  Sairey  Gamp's 
eyesight  was  none  of  the 
best,  but  we  made  her 
useful  repairing  gar- 
ments, and  other  miscel- 
laneous work  ;  and  her 
garrulity  seemed  to  help 
beguile  the  hours  of  la- 
bour. Altogether  I  g-ave 
employment  to  seven 
seamstresses,  including 
Ikwa's  wife  Mane,  and 
Kessuh's  wife  of  the 
same  name,  who,  how- 
ever, was  with  us  only 
a  short  time.  The  wo- 
men had  never  heard  of  an  eight-hour  law,  and  cheer- 
fully acquiesced  when  our  necessities  required  them 
to  sew  from  ten  to  twelve  hours  a  day  and  even  longer. 
It  was  the  busiest  winter  they  had  ever  spent,  for,  be- 
sides our  sewing,  they  had  the  work  of  their  own  house- 
holds to  perform.  Patches  were  needed  on  the  gar- 
ments of  their  husbands  and  little  ones,  and,  though 
their  culinary  methods  were  not  elaborate,  food  had  to 
be  prepared.  Megipsu,  "  The  Daisy,"  however,  was  my 
most  regular  and  constant  seamstress,  and  as  she  was 
with  us  nearly  all  the  time,  the  larger  part  of  the  sew^- 
ing  was  done  by  her. 

My  photographic  work  was  confined  during   the 
darkness  almost  wholly  to  ethnological  subjects.     As 


SAIREY    GAMP. 


174        Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 


soon  as  my  Inmiit  friends  began  to  come  to  us,  we  set 
about  taking  measurements  and  photographs  of  them. 
Dr.  Cook,  who  had  special  charge  of  the  ethnological 
researches,  made  anthropometrical  measurements,  dur- 


ADULT  MAN. 
Flash-light. 


ADULT    \VOMAN. 

Flash-light. 


ing  the  winter,  of  seventy-five  individuals,  and  I  took 
a  complete  series  of  photographs  of  the  same  persons, 
comprising  portraits,  and  front,  side,  and  rear  eleva- 
tions in  the  nude,  of  each  subject. 


Through  the  Great  Night 


175 


f 


On  one  side  of  the  stove,  near  the  partition  sepa- 
rating Mrs.  Peary's  apartment  from  the  '^a>"  ™°>;;' J 
stationed  myself  to  handle  the  camera.  On  the  other 
side  was  Matt  manipulatino:  the  flash-light.  Dr.  Look 
would  pose  the  sub  ect  at  the  other  end  of  the  room 
and  near  at  hand  was  a  table  at  which  he  recorded  his 
anthropological  measurements.  ,     ,     1    ^i 

It  was  interesting  to  observe  the  modestyj^oth 
the  women  and  the  men.     They  could  ■ 
not  understand  at   first  why  1  desired 
to  take  their  pictures  in  a  nude  condi- 
tion  and  1  am  not  sure  that  they  ever 
aot  'a  very  clear  idea  of  the   matter. 
I  told  them  that  we  wished  to  compare 
their  bodies  with  those  of  other  people 
in  the  world,  and  it  was  not  long  before 
some  of  them  grasped  the  idea  so  tar 
as  to  decide  that  our  work  was  in  the 
interest   of    a   perfectly  laudable  and 
proper  curiosity.      At  first,  however 
some  of  them  asked    Dr.    Cook   if    1 
wanted  the  information  he  obtained  tor 
the  purpose  of  making  other  people  ! ! 
The  flash-light  work  never  failed  to 
be  a  subject  of  lively  gossip  in  the  na- 
tive community.     AH  the  fresh  arrivals 
were  told  what  was  before  them  almost 
before  they  had  unhitched  their  dogs, 
and  as  soon  as  a  native  was  photo- 


BOY. 

Flash-light. 


and    as  soon   as   a   native    \ya.^   j^..^-^ 

graphed  he  would  invariably  tell  of  the  experience  to 

an  admiring-  group,  narrating  every  minute  detail. 

wTen  the^ky  was  clear,  and  we  had  the  moon  with 

us    the  arctic  night  was  one  of  remarkable  beauty. 

In  that  dry  atmo^sphere,  the  moon  and  stars  seem  to 

hine  withl  degree  of  power  and  brilliancy  unequalled 

in  temperate  latitudes.     We  saw  many  auroras,  but 


176        Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 


they  were  comparatively  faint,  and  not  so  pronounced 
in  outline  and  brightness  as  those  observed  in  South 
Greenland. 

November  14th  was  a  fine  day,  and 
in  the  afternoon  and  night  the  moon 
was  very  brilliant.  The  temperature 
rose  to  several  degrees  above  zero,  and 
the  house  was 
o  p  p  r  e  s  s  i  V  e  1  )• 
warm  all  da)-. 
On  the  I  6 1  h  , 
a  full  moon  cir- 
cled, and  the 
scene  w  a  s  in- 
tensely brilliant, 
the  moon  hang- 
ing in  a  cloudless 
sky,  and  Arctu- 
r  u  s,  Aldebaran, 
and  the  Great 
Dipper  shining 
with  remarkable 
brilliancy.  The 
ice-blink  at  the 
head  of  the  bay  was  plainly  visi- 
ble in  the  moon's  rays,  and  the 
new  ice  at  the  edge  of  the  water, 
formed  by  the  overflow  of  the 
recent  spring  tide,  skirted  the 
shores  of  the  bay  in  a  band  of 
silver. 

Many  of  our  winter  days  were 
like  this,  and  they  were  the 
heydays  of  our  arctic  experi- 
ence, when  we  enjoyed  with  the 
keenest  zest  our  out-of-door  work  and  exercise.     At 


GIRL. 

Flash-light. 


CHILD. 
Flash-light. 


Through  the  Great  Night 


177 


these  times  foot-races  and  ski  and  snow-shoe  practice 
were  the  popular  amusements,  and  it  would  have  been 
worth  while,  had  it  been  possible,  to  obtain  a  good 
photograph  of  the  party  on  some  occasions  when  com- 
ing down  the  slopes  behind  Red  Cliff  on  their  ski  ;  one 
of  them  now  and  then  burying  his  head  in  the  snow, 
while  his  ski-shod  feet  were  flourishing  in  the  air. 

Astrijp  was  our  professor  of  the  art  of  ski  travel, 
which  he  had  learned  in  Norway,  the  home  of  ski-run- 
ning. The  members  of  the  party  made  good  progress 
under  his  able  tuition,  though  they  did  not  become 
experts  in  coasting  or  climbing.  It  was  much  easier 
to  get  the  knack  of  snow-shoeing  than  to  master  the 
art  of  ski  travel,  though  on  the  level  we  were  all 
soon  able  to  handle  the  ski  fairly  well. 

The  weather  was  pleasant  about  two-thirds  of  the 
time  throughout  the  long  night.  Storms  and  a  low 
temperature  marked  not  more  than  one-third  of  the 
arctic  winter. 


CHAPTER  YI. 

THROUGH    THE    GREAT    NIGHT    (Continued). 

Red  Cliff  in  Holiday  Attire — Our  Christmas  Dinner — Banquet  to 
THE  Natives — A  Little  Twilight  at  Noon — Visitors  from  Distant 
Cape  York — Mrs.  Peary's  New  Year's  Reception — Longest  Snow-Storm 
OF  THE  Winter — Red  Cliff  nearly  Buried — A  Moonlight  Landscape — 
An  Alarm  of  Fire — Native  Story  of  Black  Snow — Busy  Times — Ex- 
periments with  Fur  Clothing — Coldest  Days  of  the  Year — A  Scout 
to  the  Ice-Cap. 


CHAPTER  VI. 


THROUGH  THE  GREAT  NIGHT  (Coiithuud). 

OU  R  resources  did 
not  permit  us  to 
make  the  merry 
Christmas  time  a  particu- 
larly brilliant  event,  but 
there  were  genial  warmth 
and  light,  kindly  feeling 
and  merry-making  at  Red 
Cliff  House  as  well  as  in 
other  parts  of  the  world. 
On  the  day  before  Christ- 
mas, Astriip  and  Dr.  Cook 
cleared  up  the  large  room,  put  up  two  Union  flags 
and  one  of  the  sledge  Hags,  festooned  the  ceiling  with 
mosquito-netting,  and  made  wire  candlesticks  and 
placed  candles  all  about  the  room.  At  nine  o'clock, 
Christmas  eve,  I  concocted  a  generous  milk-punch, 
and  this  with  cookies,  nuts,  raisins,  and  candies 
made  a  very  acceptable  evening  lunch.  After  the 
punch,  the  Christm  is  numbers  (of  the  previous  year)  of 
Harper  s,  Frank  Leslie  s.  Life,  Puck,  the  London 
JVezus,  and  London  Graphic  were  brought  out,  and  we 
filled  the  evening  with  conversation  and  such  music 
as  our  talent  afforded.  At  midnight,  Mrs.  Peary  and 
I  opened  a  box  the  Danish  Governor  at  Upernavik 
had  given  us,  and  found  it  filled  with  Christmas  com- 

i8i 


1^2       Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice 


fits 


and  devices  packed  by  the  Governor's  fair  wife. 

^Other  boxes  and  let- 
ters   were    opened, 
and  then  in  a  bottle 
of    Sauterne    we 
drank  to  our  friends 
at  home,  at  Godha- 
ven,  and   Uperna- 
vik.      I    then  went 
out    and    put 
my    trouble- 
some    baby, 
the  tide-gauge 
anchor,    back 
in    its  bed  at 


thebottom 
of  the  bay. 
A  good 
deal  of  my 
time  for 
three  days  past 
had  been  spent 
at  the  tide-gauge 
hole,  keeping  the 
apparatus  in 
working  order. 
No  one  made 
haste  to  arise  on 
Christmas  morn- 
ing, and    it  was 


■S.™^  -(19' 


CHRISTMAS  MENUS. 

Designed  by  Astrtip. 


Through  the  Great  Night  1S3 

noon  before  Reei  Cliff  House  was  astir.  From  that 
time  until  4.30  p.m.  we  were  occupied  in  preparing 
the  Christmas  dinner.  Then  we  sat  down  to  our 
holiday  spread  and  discussed  a  bill  of  fare  which,  with 
arctic  hare  and  venison  for  pieces  dc  resistance,  would 
not  have  disgraced  a  table  at  Delmonico's. 

Two  dozen  candles  in  their  wire  candlesticks  beamed 
mildl)-  upon  us,  and  these  with  our  luickaniuiiy  snk- 
kinah  (baby  sun),  as  the  natives  had  christened  the 
Argand  burner,  gave  us  a  cheerful  degree  of  illu- 
mination. Astriip  had  a  very  pretty  surprise  for  us 
in  the  shape  of  cleverly  drawn  menu  cards,  each  ap- 
propriately designed  to  fit  a  member  of  the  party. 
The  cards  of  Dr.  Cook  and  Mr.  \'erhoeff  were  par- 
ticularly apropos.  Dr.  Cook's  card  was  'graced  with 
the  presentment  of  a  long-haired  person  with  hands 
on  his  hips,  critically  examining  the  pose  of  a  poor 
nude  "  Husky,"  as  the  whalers  call  the  natives,  im- 
prisoned in  a  white  screen  ;  the  tail-piece  was  a  bottle 
with  skull  and  cross-bones.  On  Verhoeff's  card  ap- 
peared the  tide  gauge  and  several  spring  balances 
supporting  the  menu,  while  at  the  bottom,  the  alarm  _ 
clock  and  bull's-eye  lantern,  personified  as  two  danc- 
ing imps,  hit  off  happily  the  lively  dance  which  they 
led  our  faithful  meteorological  observer.  Gibson 
was  seen  bringing  a  deer  into  camp,  and  Matt  was 
"shooting"  a  row  of  Huskies,  this  being  his  favourite 
expression  when  my  dogs  gave  notice  of  a  new 
arrival.  j. 

With  the  cocktail  that  inaugurated  our  good  cheer, 
there  was  naturally  but  one  toast — "  Meri^y  Christmas 
to  all ! "  but  when  the  Sauterne  was  broaeJi.ed^Fpro- 
posed  two  toasts  :  one,  "  To  the  flag  over  us,  the  bright- 
est that  waves,  with  the  hope  that  our  little  party  may 
be  so  fortunate  as  to  add  something  to  its  lustre  "  ; 
the  other,  "  To  the  loving  and  perhaps  anxious  hearts 


184       Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

at  home,  with  the  hope  that  some  of  those  mysterious 
occuk  agencies,  which  we  do  not  as  yet  understand, 
may  inform  them  how  comfortable  we  are." 

These  toasts  we  drank 
standing.  At  seven  I'.M. 
we  rose  from  the  table, 
and,  as  soon  as  the  din- 
ner debris  was  cleared 
away  and  a  venison  stew 
could  be  made,  I  invited 
our  Husky  friends  to  a 
Christmas  dinner.  Arn- 
godogibsah,  otherwise 
"  The  Villain,"  did  the 
honours  in  my  place  at 
the  head  of  the  table. 
Megipsu,  otherwise 
"The  Daisy,"  poured 
The  company  was  ar- 


KUDLAH    I"  MISFORTUNE"). 


tea   m 


Mrs. 


rantred  as  follows  : 


eary  s   place. 


Arngodogibsah,  "The  Villain." 


Inaloo,  "  Mrs.  Villain, 


Myall, 


'  The  White 

Man. 


0     Kudlah,   "Misfortune." 


Annowkah, 

"  The  Young  Husband.' 


Megipsu,   "  The  Daisy." 

I  doubt  if  anywhere  a  more  unique  or  joyous  party 
ever  sat  down  to  their  Christmas  dinner.  A  free  use 
of  soap  and  water,  under  the  skilful  direction  of  Dr. 


Through  the  Great  Night 


185 


MYAH    ("THE    WHITE    MAN"). 


Cook,  had  removed  all  dirt  from  the  visible  portions 
of  their  bodies  ;  and  an  evening  dress  of  sealskin 
coats  and  bearskin  trousers  for  the  gentlemen,  and 
foxskin  jackets  and 
trousers  for  the  ladies, 
made  all  look  very  pre- 
sentable. Considering 
their  limited  experience 
at  Christmas  dinners, 
they  acquitted  them- 
selves very  well.  The 
Young  Husband,  it  is 
true,  was  a  little  boister- 
ous ;  and  Myah  endan- 
gered the  integrity  of  his 
eyes  by  persisting  in 
holding  his  knife  and 
spoon  both  at  once  in 
his  right  hand,  and  then  using  his  fingers  for  convey- 

ing  food  to  his  mouth. 
He  also  was  so  rude  as 
to  stand  up  and  endeav- 
our to  harpoon  with  his 
fork  some  choice  pieces 
in  the  stew.  He  desisted, 
however,  when  he  was  re- 
proved by  The  Villain, 
who,  perhaps,  was  not  so 
much  offended  by  Myah's 
gross  breach  of  etiquette 
as  desirous  that  all  should 
have  a  fair  chance  at  the 
stew.  The  Villain  bore 
up  bravely  under  his  re- 
sponsibility and  served  the  stew  very  creditably.  The 
Daisy  also  sipped   her  tea  with  considerable  grace. 


■  THE    VILLAIN  ' 


1 86        Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice 


Tuktoo  (venison)  stew  formed  the  first  course,  bis- 
cuit and  colTee  the  second,  and  candy  and  raisins  the 
dessert.     Then  the  boys  amused  themselves  at  games 

,with  the  Eskimos  until 
a  late  hour.  Altogether 
we  had  a  very  enjoyable 
Christmas. 

The  next  evening  I 
went  with  Dr.  Cook  and 
Matt  to  visit  some  of  the 
fox-traps.  We  found  one 
sprung  and  covered  with 
blood,  and  one  deprived 
of  the  bait,  but  not 
sprung.  Three  others 
were  not  disturbed.  We 
had  a  race  coming  back, 

irNAUUU.  Ill  IT  ■  1 

and  1  thought  1  acquitted 
myself  very  creditably,  considering  that  it  was  my  first 
foot-race  since  the  breaking  of  my  leg. 

After  Christmas,  it  was  clearly  apparent  that  the 
noonday  twilight  was  increasing.  Only  those  who 
have  lived  for  many  weeks  in  darkness,  or  whose 
brightest  days  have  been  illumined  only  by  the  cold, 
reflected  beams  of  the  moon,  can  realise  with  what 
eagerness  and  pleasure  every  indication  of  the  sun's 
returning  light  and  power  was  welcomed  at  Red  Cliff 
House.  At  nine  a.m.  on  the  28th,  the  cliffs  back  of  the 
house  were  outlined  in  the  twilight,  and  at  noon  the  op- 
posite shore  of  the  bay  was  illumined  by  the  reflection. 

On  the  evening  of  December  29th,  it  began  snow- 
ing and  kept  it  up  till  early  next  morning,  when  a 
foot  more  of  snow  had  been  added  to  Red  Cliff's 
winter  covering.  There  was  a  fresh  breeze  from  the 
head  of  the  bay  and  the  thermometer  rose  rapidly. 
At  nine  p.m.,  it  was 


I  If  F. 


Throui/b  the  Great  Nicrht 


187 


OOTUNIAH. 


Thursday  the  31st  was  a  wild  squally  day,  the 
wind  falling  in  heavy  gusts  from  the  bluffs  behind 
us.  The  temperature,  however,  was  high,  rising  to 
+ 1 6^°  F.  Everyone  was 
busy  in  various  prepara- 
tions for  New  Year's. 
Mrs.  Peary  sent  out  invit- 
ations to  an  "  at  home"  in 
,the  south  parlour  of  Red 
Cliff  House  "from  ten 
P.M.December  31st,  1891, 
until  1892."  While  at 
dinner,  the  unmistakable 
barking  of  my  two  New- 
foundland  dogs  an- 
nounced the  arrival  of 
more  Eskimos,  and  when 
dinner  was  over  they 
were  admitted.  I  found  them  to  be  our  old  acquaint- 
ances :  Kessuh  of  Netiulume,  with  his  wife  Mane  and 
their  child;  Kyowito,  an  ugly  giant  from  Narksarsomi; 
Ootuniah,  his  brother,  only  a  trifle  smaller  and  less 
ugly  ;  and  Tahtarah  and  Akpaliasuah,  two  young 
men  from  Cape  York.  Our  New  Year's  preparations 
gave  me  but  little  time  for  these  visitors,  though  the 
giant  promptly  informed  me  that  he  had  a  fine 
narwhal  horn,  several  reindeer  skins,  and  other  articles 
to  trade,  and  that  he  expected  to  carry  away  a  gun. 

It  may  seem  surprising  to  some  of  my  readers  that 
during  the  winter  night  we  should  have  visitors  coming 
from  their  homes  nearly  two  hundred  miles  away. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  quite  a  number  of  Eskimos  from 
Cape  York  and  vicinity  came  to  Red  Cliff  House 
during  the  winter  and  spring. 

Promptly  at  ten  p.m.,  our  guests  began  to  arrive  and 
a    very  pleasant  evening   was  enjoyed.      The   young 


i88       Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

men  from  the  United  States  seemed  greatly  to  ap- 
preciate a  lunch  of  cookies,  doughnuts,  and  ice-cream  ; 
and  as  the  clock  rang  out  the  midnight  hour,  a 
generous  cocktail  sparkled  and  seven  glasses  clinked 
to  a  happy  New  Year.' 


THE   LIBRARY. 


Mrs.  Peary,  in  a  black-and-yellow  tea-gown,  ply- 
ing a  palm-leaf  fan,  was  an  object  of  silent,  open- 
mouthed  wonderment    to    our    Eskimo   friends,  who 


'  I.est  the  reader  should,  from  my  description  of  our  various  fete-days — 
Thanksgiving,  Christmas,  and  birthdays — gain  a  very  erroneous  idea  of  the 
quantity  of  stimulants  used  by  my  Expedition,  it  is  necessary  for  me  to  state 
the  facts  clearly. 

Personally,  as  a  matter,  not  of  conscientious  scruples,  but  of  judgment  and 
taste,  I  am  neither  a  drinker  nor  a  smoker ;  and  I  have  always  selected  men  for 


Through  the  Great  Night  189 

were  looking  on  and  listening  from  the  other  room. 
As  if  in  envy  of  all  this  light,  warmth,  and  enjoy- 
ment, the  wild  wind  outside  howled  and  shrieked,  and 
the  snow  swirled  in  blinding  sheets  about  my  nearly 
buried  house  ;  and  yet  the  thermometer  registered 
+5°  F.  to  +12°  ¥.  No  such  picture  as  this  had  ever 
before  broken  the  dark  and  cold  of  the  arctic  night. 

Our  New  Year's  morning  coffee  was  served  an 
hour  late,  and  then  Gibson  and  Verhoeff  laid  out  a 
course  for  our  athletic  games,  which  came  off  in  the 
midst  of  a  furious  wind. 

These  games  consisted  of  a  hundred-yards'  dash,  a 
hundred-yards'  race  backwards,  and  a  hundred-yards' 
four-legged  race.  They  were  hotly  contested,  but 
owing  to  the  fact  that  the  starter.  Matt,  and  the  judge 
at  the  finish  (myself)  were  particularly  interested  in 
trying  to  keep  warm,  and  also  that  I  had  much  dif- 
ficulty in  recognising,  in  the  pitch-black  darkness,  the 
different  contestants,  the  actual  time  of  these  events 
is  still  very  uncertain.  I  believe  that  one  event  was 
awarded  to  each  of  the  contestants  to  prevent  any 
unpleasant  feeling. 

At  three  p.m.,  we  had  our  New  Year's  dinner,  and 
we  made  the  occasion  a  joyous  one  for  my  Eskimo 
dependants,  by  feeding  them  on  eider-ducks  and  rein- 
deer legs.      The  next  day,  the  storm  abated  somewhat, 

my  parties  who,  as  far  as  their  word  of  honour  could  be  relied  upon,  used  neither 
tobacco  nor  spirits.  Liquor  should  have  no  place  in  an  arctic  ration,  either  for 
camp  or  field. 

Yet  on  such  special  occasions  as  those  above  noted,  nothing  gives  more  zest 
to  the  feast,  or  helps  to  lift  the  day  out  of  the  even  monotony  of  the  days  on 
either  side,  than  a  mild  cocktail  or  a  glass  of  light  wine. 

The  liquor  supply  of  my  Expedition  consisted  of  half  a  dozen  bottles  of  brandy 
and  whiskey,  and  a  dozen  pints  of  Sauterne. 

Some  of  this  supply  was  used  externally,  and  some  was  taken  back  on  board 
the  A'if^  at  tlie  end  of  I'A'elve  months. 

Tobacco  is  equally  or  more  objectionable  in  arctic  work.  It  affects  the  wind 
endurance  of  the  individual,  particularly  in  low  temperatures  ;  adds  an  extra  and 
entirely  unnecessary  item  to  the  outfit ;  and  vitiates  the  atmosphere  of  tent  and 
house. 


190       Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

the  temperature  began  to  fall,  and  my  visitors  departed. 
Before  Kessuh  went,  he  told  me  the  latest  hunting 
story.  It  seems  that,  even  in  the  darkness  of  the 
winter  night,  he  had  harpooned  a  big  walrus  in  a 
crack  in  the  ice  near  the  open  water  off  Netiulume, 
and  after  a  protracted  struggle  lasting  for  hours,  had 
succeeded  in  killing  the  monster  and  making  him  fast 
to  the  ice  ;  after  which  Kessuh  returned  to  the  villaee 


THE  WRITING-DESK. 


for  assistance,  and  many  willing  hands  got  the  animal 
out  of  the  water,  and  added  the  welcome  store  of  fresh 
meat  to  their  supply.  In  proof  of  his  story  Kessuh, 
Othere-like,  showed  me  the  fresh  and  bloody  tusks  of 
the  walrus. 

I  find  this  entry  in  my  journal  of  January  2d  : 

"  The  holidays  have  come  and  gone  at  Red  Cliff 

House  and  we  have  entered  on  the  new  year.     Will 

it  bring  a  fruition  of  my  hopes  ?     The  year  itself  will 

tell.      It  seems  to  me  as  if  everything  is  favourable. 


Throucrh  the  Great  Night 


191 


This  afternoon  Mrs.  Peary  and  I  walked  to  our  west- 
ern fox-traps,  and  as  we  moved  along  over  the  crisp, 
level  surface  of  the  bay  and  thoughts  of  the  experi- 
ences of  my  partv  came  crowdino-  upon  me,  1  could 
not  help  wondering  if  we  had  really  hit  upon  the  most 


THE    BED. 


favoured  locality  or  an  especially  mild  season,  or  both  ; 
or  if  all  my  predecessors  had  unconsciously  exagger- 
ated their  hardships  and  the  rigours  of  the  climate." 

Industry  knew  no  pause  in  my  arctic  workshop. 
Astriip  was  splitting  ash  runners  for  the  second  dog 
sledge.  Dr.  Cook'and  Ikwa  were  busy -on  the  up- 
rights and  cross-bars.      I  was  ripping  a  narwhal  horn 


192       Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice' 

into  four  strips,  roughing  it  into  shoes  for  the  sledges, 
and  cutting  deerskin  trousers  to  tceep  "  Daisy  "  busy 
with  her  needle.  Ikwa  and  Gibson  were  making  ivory 
and  horn  knees  to  brace  the  sledge.  Annowkah  was 
fashioning  ivory  rings  for  the  dog  harnesses,  "  Daisy  " 
was  sewing.  Mane  was  scraping  a  skin,  and  Mrs. 
Peary  was  working  and  softening  my  kooletah. 

On  Monday,  January  i  ith,  the  weather  had  cleared 
completely  and  the  result  was  almost  indescribable. 
The  snow  landscape  bathed  in  the  brilliant  light  of 
the  nearly  full  moon,  the  silvery,  misty  distances,  the 
low  stratum  of  vapour  over  the  bay,  reminded  me 
of  moonlight-scene  effects  in  mother-of-pearl.  The 
southern  twilight  at  noon  was  bright,  and  in  the  even- 
ing the  temperature  fell  to  —35^°  F.  Red  Cliff  House 
smoked  in  the  icy  air  from  every  ventilator.  The 
humbler  dwellings  in  the  village  were  completely 
snowed  in.  Work  on  the  skin  clothing  progressed 
well,  and  I  finished  a  sample  sleeping  outfit  weighing 
only  ten  pounds. 

The  next  day  the  temperature  fell  to  -40^°  F.,  and  the 
dazzling  effect  of  the  full  moonlight  on  the  great  white 
expanse  of  snow  was  beautiful  beyond  description. 

January  13th  was  diversified  by  a  small  fire  scare. 
Astriip  knocked  a  box  of  matches  from  a  shelf  on  to 
and  around  the  stove.  They  immediately  took  fire 
in  every  direction,  and  Dr.  Cook,  who  had  the  night 
watch  and  who  was  asleep  in  the  bunk  nearest  the 
stove,  sprang  out  in  his  sleeping-bag  and  fell,  half- 
awake,  on  the  matches  on  all  fours,  just  in  time  to  en- 
counter, full  in  the  face,  a  pailful  of  water  which  I  had 
thrown  from  the  opposite  direction.  The  second 
pailful  following  fast  upon  the  first,  convinced  Dr. 
Cook  of  the  efficiency  of  the  fire  department  and 
caused  him  to  retreat  in  confusion.  The  third  appli- 
cation of  water  extinguished  the  blaze. 


Through  the  Great  Night 


19: 


January  15th,  the  noon  twilight  was  reflected  from 
the  southern  faces  of  the  bergs,  and  Cape  Robertson 
across  the  bay  had  a  steely  light  that  was  not  from 
the  moon.  The  temperature  was  still  holding  its  own 
at  -40°  F. 

Megipsu  told  me  of  a  heavy  fall  of  black  dust  or 
soot  during  an  east  wind  at  Cape  York  about  a  year 
ago  which" frightened  the  natives  seriously.       In  this 


THE    WASHSTAND. 


neighbourhood  the  fall  was  lighter.  I  could  get  no 
furdier  particulars,  but  as  to  the  general  truth  of  the 
story  I  have  little  doubt.  It  seems  strongly  to  indi- 
cate the  possibility  of  volcanic  dust  having  reached 
that  region,  perhaps  from  some  northern  area  still 
unexplored. 

January  26th,  the  south-west  sky  glowed  for  hours 
with  rose  and  saffron  tints.  Arcturus  and  the  Great 
Dipper,  however,  were  still  visible  at  midday.  After 
lunch,  Mrs.  Pear)-  and   I  went  out  on   snow-shoes  to 


194       Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice 


the  griind  Amphitheatre  Berg,  about  one  and  a  half 
miles  rdjstant,  in  the  direction  of  the  Five-Glacier 
Yalleyt)" 

;     Oyer  the  ice-cracks  along  the  shore  and  around  the 

bergs,  the  frozen  water 
vapour,  rising  through 
the  cracks,  was  making 
wreaths  of  mist. 

In  the  evening,  Arngo- 
doblaho's  three  dogs,  and 
another  I  did  not  recog- 
nise, came  into  our  vil- 
lage with  a  rush,  their 
traces  dragging  behind 
them.  About  an  hour 
later,  Nipsangwah  of 
Keati,  and  Tahwana 
from  the  head  of  Ingle- 
field  Gulf,  came  in  with 
three  more  dogs.  Tahwana  had  fallen  into  the  water 
and  their  sledge  had  been  left  behind  on  the  ice.  I 
gave  them  both  a  hot  rum  punch  and  they  turned  in 
on  the  Boor. 

Nipsangwah  was  the  brother  of  Annowkah,  the 
"  Daisy's"  husband.  Tahwana  lived  with  his  family 
and  one  other  far  up  the  head  of  Inglefield  Gulf.  Nip- 
sangwah was  a  powerful,  quick,  athletic  man,  while 
Tahwana  was  a  queer,  pigeontoed,  little  fellow  with 
a  defect  in  his  eyes,  and  a  walk  like  that  of  a  bantam 
rooster. 

I  learned  from  my  visitors  that  there  was  still  open 
water  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Hakluyt  Island  and  be- 
tween it  and  Northumberland  Island  ;  and  also  that 
the  ice  in  the  Sound  between  our  camp  and  Northum- 
berland was  very  thin  and  in  places  dangerous,  the 
thick  snow  protecting  it  from  the  low  temperatures 


NIPSANGWAH. 


Through  the  Great  Night 


■95 


and  the  water  wearing  it  away  beneath.       At   Keate 

and  Netiukime  there  was  Httle  snow  and  liigh  winds 

had  prevailed.      At  the  head  of  Inglefield  Gulf  there 

was  a  good  deal  of  snow.      Merktoshar,  the  one-eyed 

hunter  of   Netiulume, 

and  Kudlah  had  killed  a 

young    bear   near   Cape 

Parrv.     It  was  encouratr- 

ing  to  see  seven  fine  dogs 

at  the  door  and  to  know 

that   the    dreaded  pih- 

lockto,    or    dog    disease, 

had  done  practically  no 

damage   to   the   animals 

in  our   neighbourhood. 

Friday  morning.  Feb- 
ruary 1 2th,  Astriip  and  I 
started  with  our  ski  and 
snow-shoes  and  fur  suits 
to  take  a  look  at  the  ice-cap  beyond  Four-Mile  Valley. 

We  left  Red  Cliff  House  at  9:30  a.m.,  and  took  at 
once  to  the  bay  ice.  As  the  three  spirit  thermometers 
were  reading  —44°  F.,  —43°  F.,  and  —44°  F.,  I  wore 
my  kooletah  with  the  hair  inside.  Only  a  few  hun- 
dred yards  from  the  house,  however,  I  began  to  find 
it  too  warm,  and,  pulling  it  off,  stood  nude  above  the 
waist  and  turned  it  with  bare  fingers.  The  sleeves 
gave  me  some  trouble,  and  when  the  job  was  com- 
pleted, my  fingers  had  lost  sensation,  but  otherwise 
I  was  warm  enough. 

After  reaching  a  height  of  about  two  thousand  feet, 
Astriip  stopped  for  a  rest  and  I  went  on  ahead  to  the 
ice-cap.  I  kept  on  to  an  elevation  of  about  three 
thousand  feet.  Then,  as  it  was  getting  dark,  I  threw 
myself  down  in  m)-  furs  with  my  head  pillowed  upon 
Jack,  who  had  followed  me,  and  lay  for  ten  or  fifteen 


TAHWANA. 


196       Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

minutes,  with  the  rusthng  of  the  ice-cap  wind — by  that 
strange  contrariety  of  suggestion  which  I  have  fre- 
quently noted  in  the  Arctic  regions — bearing  me  far 
away  to  the  ledges  of  brown  cliffs  familiar  in  youth, 
with  the  waves  of  summer  seas  murmuring  at  their 
base. 

Rising  to  return,  I  drove  my  alpenstock  with  com- 
parative ease  through  about  two  feet  of  snow  (the 
last  winter's  fall)  to  the  icy  surface  of  the  previous 
summer.  Into  this  I  drilled  about  one  and  a  half 
feet  and  then  could  get  no  deeper. 

Returning,  I  rejoined  Astriip,  and  as  the  big  yellow 
moon,  surrounded  by  a  rose-coloured  halo,  climbed 
over  the  cliffs,  we  reached  Red  Cliff  House  at  seven 
P.M.,  after  a  fifteen-mile  tramp. 

A  few  days  more  and  the  sun  would  rise. 

Constant  occupation,  first  in  the  little  fittings  about 
the  home,  then  in  the  construction  of  ski  and  sledges, 
daily  exercise  out-of-doors,  the  visits  of  the  natives, 
the  pleasant  breaks  of  Thanksgiving  and  the  Christ- 
mas holidays,  congenial  companionship  and  the  best 
of  food,  had  carried  us  quickly  through  the  sombre 
darkness. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

IMPRISONED    ON    THE    ICE-CAP. 

Building  a  Snow  Igloo  on  the  Ice-Cap  for  the  Sunrise  Party — Climb- 
ing TO  THE  Ice-Cap,  over  2000  Feet  above  the  Sea — A  Furious  Storm — 
Awakened  by  the  Roar  of  the  Wind  and  Drift — Our  Snow  Hut  Eaten 
away — Exposed  to  the  Elements  in  our  Sleeping-Bags  with  Nothing 
ON  BUT  Underclothing — Our  Fur  Garments  Deep  under  the  Drift — 
Unable  to  Stand  against  the  Gale — A  Day  and  a  Half  before  we 
CAN  Extricate  ourselves — Sunrise — Return  to  Red  Cliff — The  Camp 
NEARLY  Washed  away  by  the  Furious  Fohn — Torrents  of  Rain  in 
February — Putting  Things  Shipshape  again. 


KAMONAHPIK. 


CHAPTER  VII. 


IMPRISONED   OX   THE   ICE-C.\P. 


T 


HE  ice-cap  beyond 
Four-Mile  Valley- 
being  too  far  away 
for  my  contemplated  out- 
ing to  see  the  sun's  return, 
I  lent  Gibson  and  Ver- 
hoeff,  on  Saturday,  Feb- 
ruary 13th,  as  I  have 
already  mentioned,  up  to 
the  ice-cap  this  side  of 
the  valley'  to  build  a  snow 

, itdoo,  for  the  sunrise  party. 

They  returned  at  night,  reporting  the  walls  of  the 
igloo  finished,  but  they  were  unable,  after  repeated 
auempts,  to  construct  the  roof.  G.bson  reported 
seeing  sunlight,  to  the  west,  on  the  highest  peak  of 
Northumberland  Island.  The  barometrical  deter 
mination  of  the  height  of    the  igloo  above  sea-level 

"It'Ti'lhe  next  morning.  Dr.  Cook,  AstrQp 
and  1  start'ed,  dressed  in  our  furs,  the  Doctor  and 
Astrup  with  deerskin  kooletahs  and  trousers,  and  I 
with  deerskin  kooletah  and  dogskin  trousers.  We 
all  wore  kamiks  and  woollen  socks.  The  Doctor  and 
I  took  snow-shoes,  and  Astrup  his  ski.     Our  imped,. 

199 


200        Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

menta  consisted  of  reindeer  sleeping-bags  and  lioods, 
pemmican,  cranberry  jam,  biscuit,  tea,  sugar,  and 
condensed  milk,  for  two  days ;  alcohol  lamp  and 
boiler,  canteen  of  alcohol,  two  spoons,  wind  matches, 
shovel,  snow-knife,  hunting-knife,  alpenstock,  camera, 
note-book,  aneroid  and  compass,  swing  thermometer, 
maximum  and  minimum  thermometer,  candle  and 
watch,  the  Dahlgren  and  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences 
flags,  and  Mrs.  Peary's  and  Mayde's  sledge  banners. 
The  morning  was  gloomy  and  cloudy,  and  looked  so 


THE  PATH  TO  THE  ICE-CAP. 


unpromising  that  I  thought  it  hardly  probable  that  we 
would  spend  the  night  on  top,  but  more  likely  that  we 
would  carry  our  packs  up  and  return  to  sleep  at  the 
house,  going  up  again  Monday  morning. 

We  crossed  the  snow-covered  terraces  between  the 
shore  and  the  foot  of  the  bluffs,  on  our  snow-shoes. 
Then  removing  them  we  clambered,  on  hands  and 
knees,  sometimes  over  bare  rocks  and  snow  patches,  to 
the  knife-edge  crest  of  one  of  the  eroded  trap  buttresses 
springing  from  the  main  bluffs.  A  firm  and  gradually 
ascending  snow-drift  capped  this  crest,  just  wide 
enough  at  the  top  for  one  to  walk.     It  was  broken  in 


Imprisoned  on  the  Ice-Cap  201 

two  places  by  nearly  vertical  trap  ladders.  We 
brought  up  at  last  against  the  face  of  the  abrupt  snow 
cornice  of  the  main  line  of  bluffs,  some  seventy-five 
feet  below  its  top.  Up  this  marble  steep  the  Doctor 
cut  steps  with  his  shovel,  and  following  him,  we 
reached  the  thermometer  cairn  at  noon. 

When  about  half-way  up  my  swing  thermometer 
had  shown  + 1  2°  F.,  and  the  current  temperature  of  the 
spirit  thermometer  at  the  cairn  was  +  1 2°  F.  I  reached 
the  top,  clad  only  in  my  boots,  trousers,  and  light  guern- 
sey. My  kooletah  was  slung  across  my  back.  I  was 
more  than  glad  to  find  my  broken  leg  all  right  again. 
Although  I  could  not  spring  from  it  quite  as  quickly 
and  vigorously  as  with  the   other,  it  gave  me  no  pain. 

At  the  thermometer  cairn,  we  put  on  our  snow- 
shoes  and  stretched  out  across  the  snow-field.  At 
1.50  P.M.,  we  reached  the  igloo.  At  two  p.m.,  the  swing 
thermometer  registered  + 1 6°  F.,  the  temperature  of  the 
snow  being  —  4°  F.  We  immediately  proceeded  to  roof 
in  the  igloo,  which  was  nine  by  six  feet  with  a  recurv- 
ing entrance,  the  walls  about  4-^  feet  high,  and  the 
floor  the  last  summer's  icy  surface  of  the  ice-cap,  about 
eighteen  inches  below  the  present  surface.  The  ski 
were  placed  lengthwise  on  the  end  walls,  supported 
in  their  middle  by  snow-shoes,  interlaced  and  resting 
on  the  side  walls. 

Then  a  flat  roof  of  snow  blocks  was  laid  upon  them, 
and  the  roof  and  walls  chinked.  At  three  p.m.,  our 
house  was  finished.  The  temperature  at  this  time  was 
+22°  F.  and  the  temperature  of  the  snow  still  -4°  F. 
The  entire  sky  was  a  heavy  lead  colour.  The  out- 
lines of  Herbert  and  Northumberland  Islands  were 
barely  discernible,  and  the  lifeless  light  about  us  was 
of  such  a  character  that  it  was  impossible  to  form  any 
judgment  of  the  size  or  distance  of  objects.  A  single 
snow  block  could  be  taken  for  a  snow  house,  and  our 


202       Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

igloo  itself  at  a  little  distance  loomed  up  like  an  ice- 
berg. 

The  house  being  completed,  our  packs  were  passed 
in,  the  sleeping-bags  spread  out,  and  I  immediately 
started  the  lamp  for  our  pot  of  tea.  Before  six  p.m., 
we  had  eaten  our  supper  and  were  snugly  stowed  in 
our  bags,  wearing  only  our  underclothing.  Our  fur 
trousers  were  folded  and  laid  under  the  upper  portion 
of  the  sleeping-bags,  and  our  kooletahs  were  pulled 
over  the    foot  of  the  bags.     We  could  hear  the  in- 


DIGGING  OUT. 


creasing  rush  of  the  wind,  which  had  begun  blowing 
just  as  we  got  our  packs  inside,  and  was  now  begin- 
ning to  drift  the  tine  snow  into  the  entrance.  At 
nine  p.m.,  the  temperature  in  the  igloo  was  +22°  F. 
and  the  barometer  read  24.40. 

When  I  awoke,  fine  snow  w^as  drifting  in  my  face. 
Lighting  a  candle,  I  saw  that  it  was  four  o'clock 
Monday  morning,  that  our  entrance  had  drifted  full, 
and  that  the  wind  had  forced  a  small  hole  through 
the  end  wall  of  the  igloo,  through  which  the  drift 
was  pouring  in  a  stream  that  had  already  covered  to 


Imprisoned  on  the  Ice-Cap 


20- 


a  depth  of  several  inches  the  foot  of  my  sleeping-bag, 
and  the  head  and  shoulders  of  the  Doctor,  who  was 
lying  in  the  opposite  direction.  The  Doctor  turned 
out  In  a  hurry,  plugged  up  the  hole  with  sno^y,  and 
then  reversed  the  "liead  of  his  bag  so  as  to  lie  the 
same  as  Astrup  and  myself. 

Again  I  fell  asleep,  only  to  be  again  awakened  by 
the  roar  of  the  storm  and  the  snow  driving  in  my  face. 
Looking  over  the  foot  of  my  bag,  I  could  just  see,  in 
the  faint  light  of  day,  that  the  cutting  drift  had  eaten 


SUNRISE  CAMP. 

off  the  angle  of  the  igloo  where  roof  and  end  wall 
met,  had  completely  filled  that  end,  and  was  rapidly 
covering  us.  As  I  watched  it,  roof  and  wall  melted 
away  as  fine  sand  before  a  water  jet  ;  and  by  the  time 
I  could  arouse  Dr.  Cook,  adjust  my  hood,  and  tighten 
my  bag,  it  required  a  good  deal  of  effort  to  force  my- 
self up  through  the  superincumbent  weight  of  snow. 
The  Doctor  also  succeeded  in  liberating  himself,  but 
Astrup,  who  was  lying  on  the  other  side  of  the  igloo, 
could  not  get  free. 


204        Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

Telling  Dr.  Cook  to  keep  a  breathing  hole  open 
for  Astriip,  I  rose  up  in  my  bag,  forced  the  ski  apart, 
rolled  out  over  the  wall,  bag  and  all,  and  reached 
the  shovel  at  the  entrance,  then  rolled  back  to  the 
end  of  the  igloo,  and  crouched  against  the  wall  on 
the  outside  to  get  my  breath.  Then  I  crept  around 
to  the  side  where  Astrlip  was,  and  crouching  before 
the  howling  wind,  tore  a  hole  through  the  side  wall 
and  freed  his  head  and  body,  and  with  the  Doctor's 
assistance,  pulled  him  out. 

Here  we  were  in  our  sleeping-bags,  clad  only  in 
our  underclothing  and  with  our  fur  garments  and 
foot-gear  buried  deep  under  the  snow.  We  could  not 
have  stood  up  before  such  a  gale  if  we  had  tried. 
All  we  could  do  was  to  crouch,  half  sitting,  with  our 
backs  to  the  storm,  in  the  breach  I  had  made  in  that 
part  of  the  igloo  wall  which  was  still  standing.  We 
sat  there  hour  after  hour  until  nearly  night,  when  the 
Doctor  and  Astriip  were  again  both  fast,  and  needed 
assistance  to  release  them  from  the  drift.  While 
performing  this  work  of  necessity,  we  managed  to  dig 
from  under  the  snow  a  little  pemmican  and  a  few 
biscuit,  and  ate  them.  Astriip  then  wriggled  along- 
side me,  and  the  Doctor  rolled  a  few  feet  to  leeward 
of  where  the  house  had  been,  and  thus  night  settled 
down  upon  us. 

We  were  lying  out  on  the  ice-cap  over  2000  feet 
above  sea-level,  wholly  without  shelter,  on  the  top  of 
the  drift,  beneath  which  our  snow  hut  was  buried. 
The  snow  flew  past  us  with  such  a  roar  that  I  had  to 
shout  at  the  top  of  my  voice  to  be  heard  by  Astriip, 
who  was  lying  partly  upon  me.  After  an  hour  or  so, 
his  weight  and  that  of  the  snow  became  oppressive, 
and  I  worked  myself  loose  and  crawled  a  little  to  one 
side  and  to  windward,  into  the  wind  ditch  alongside  the 
big  drift  over  the  house.      Here  in  a  sitting  posture, 


Imprisoned  on  the  Ice-Cap 


205 


with  back  to  the  wind  and  side  against  the  drift,  I  sat 
out  the  night.  By  lowering  my  chin  upon  my  breast, 
I  could  keep  most  of  the  drift  out  of  my  face,  and  by 
raising  my  head  I  could  feel  rather  than  see  the  two 
dark  prostrate  objects  close  to  me  to  leeward,  and  at 
intervals  shout  to  them  to  inquire  if  they  were  warm 
enough. 

Occasionally  I  dozed  a  little,  but  most  of  the  time 


IP 

W^^'j* 

J 

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W1IHK"  ; 

1 

li 

^.--^ 

ffi^ 

ii 

i 

IHIr 

s5t^^ 

• 

Ba—— i-— • 

.^jdSS**  ■  -- 

- 

1 

MOONLIGHT  ON  THE   ICE-CAP. 


I  was  studying  how  we  should  extricate  ourselves 
from  our  predicament  if  the  storm  continued  for 
several  days.  My  greatest  source  of  anxiety  was  the 
fact  that  the  suddenness  with  which  we  were  compelled 
to  free  ourselves  from  the  drift  had  left  our  outer 
clothing  and  foot-gear  deep  under  the  drift,  my  dog- 
skin trousers  being  the  only  thing  that  was  brought 
out.  These,  however,  and  the  shovel,  I  had  close  to 
me.  I  knew  that  we  were  good  for  at  least  twent)'- 
four  hours  longer  in    the  bags,  but  if  the  storm  con- 


2o6        Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

tinned  longer  than  that,  I  should  have  to  try  and  dig 
out  a  kooletah  and  pair  of  kamiks,  and  get  to  the 
house  for  clothing. 

Dozing  again,  I  suddenly  awoke  to  hear  a  rattling 
as  of  hail  against  my  hood,  and  putting  my  hand  out 
through  the  sleeve  of  the  bag,  great  drops  of  rain 
drove  against  it,  freezing  as  they  struck.  Moving  in 
my  bag,  I  felt  that  it  had  stiffened  greatly,  but  fortun- 


SUNRISE  ON  THE  "GREAT  ICE." 

February,  iSg2. 

ately  was  not  yet  frozen  down.  Calling  to  the  boys, 
I  told  them  to  roll  their  bags  gently  from  side  to  side 
every  few  minutes  to  prevent  their  freezing  down,  and 
then  anxiously  waited  developments.  The  continua- 
tion of  the  rain  would,  I  knew,  make  the  digging  out 
of  our  clothing  impossible,  and  if  I  had  to  go  down  to 
the  house,  I  should  have  to  wear  the  upper  part  of 
my  bag  cut  off  for  a  kooletah,  my  dogskin  trousers, 
and  a  pair  of    reindeer-skin  sleeping-socks  which   I 


Imprisoned  on  the  Ice-Cap  207 

had  in  my  bag  cover.  I  was  worse  off  than  either  of  the 
others,  for  they  had  on  complete  suits  of  underwear, 
including  stockings,  while  I  wore  only  an  undershirt. 

To  my  infinite  relief  the  rain  did  not  last  much 
more  than  an  hour,  and  then  the  snow  resumed  its 
sway.  Very  soon,  too,  the  wind  ceased  its  steady, 
monotonous  roar,  and  began  to  come  in  intermittent 
squalls.  This,  I  hailed  with  delight,  as  a  sign  of  the 
near  breaking  of  the  storm.  I  fell  asleep  again. 
When  I  next  awoke,  I  found  the  opening  of  my  hood 
closed  with  balls  of  ice,  but  the  wind  was  much  less  vio- 
lent, and  the  intervals  between  the  gusts  were  longer. 
Putting  out  a  hand  and  tearing  away  the  ice,  I 
looked  out,  and  to  my  delight  found  moonlight  flood- 
ing the  Inland  Ice,  the  moon  having  just  broken 
through  a  rift  in  the  black  clouds  over  Herbert  Isl- 
and. It  had  stopped  snowing,  but  the  wind  was  still 
whirling  the  fine  snow  along  the  surface. 

I  immediately  conveyed  the  pleasing  intelligence  to 
the  boys,  and  learning  from  the  Doctor  that  he  was 
cold,  I  got  over  to  him  as  well  as  I  could  in  my  sleep- 
ing-bag and  curled  myself  around  and  against  the 
head  of  his  bag,  to  windward.  This  expedient  did 
not  succeed  in  making  him  more  comfortable,  and  as 
the  temperature  was  rapidly  lowering  I  rolled  back, 
got  the  shovel,  and  succeeded  in  digging  a  hole,  down 
into  the  snow.  I  then  got  the  Doctor's  bag  loose, 
pulled  the  sleeves  out  of  the  frozen  crust,  adjusted  his 
hood,  and  helped  him  to  wriggle  to  the  hole,  into 
which  he  tumbled  and  curled  himself  up.  I  then  placed 
my  trousers  over  his  head  to  keep  the  drift  off,  and 
curled  myself  round  the  windward  edge  of  the  hole 
above  him.  I  was  very  glad  to  find  that  the  complete 
protection  from  the  wind  thus  afforded  him,  together 
with  the  exercise  of  moving,  restored  his  temperature 
and  rendered  him  entirely  comfortable. 


2o8        Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

In  this  way  we  lay  for  several  hours,  the  wind 
gradually  dying  away,  and  the  light  of  day  increasing. 
Then  as  Astriip  was  more  completely  dressed  than 
any  of  us,  I  requested  him  to  make  the  attempt  to 
dig  out  our  clothing.  I  was  obliged,  however,  to  go 
to  his  assistance,  and  break  his  bag  free,  clear  the  ice 
from  the  opening  of  his  hood,  adjust  it,  and  help  him 


THE  DENUDED  CLIFFS. 


to  a  sitting  posture.  In  doing  this,  one  of  the  sleeves 
of  his  bag  was  unfortunately  torn  off,  and  when  he 
began  to  shovel,  his  arm  was  so  cold  that  he  could  do 
no  effective  work,  so  I  told  him  to  lie  down,  and  I 
took  the  shovel.  It  was  now  8:45  a.m.,  Tuesday, 
and  after  a  long  time,  and  with  much  trouble,  owing 
to  the  hard  snow,  the  coldness  of  my  hands,  and 
the  difficulty  of  working  hampered  by  my  sleeping- 


Imprisoned  on  the  Ice-Cap  209 

bag,  I  dug  out  a  kooletah,  a  pair  of  trousers,  and 
a  pair  of  kamiks.  Astrijp  then  got  out  of  his  bag  into 
these,  and  after  a  brisk  run  to  Hmber  himself  up,  took 
the  shovel  and  continued  the  work  of  excavation. 
The  temperature  at  this  time  was  +3°  F.,  with  a  light 
breeze  blowing. 

As  soon  as  Astrijp  had  dug  out  another  kooletah, 
a  pair  of  trousers,  and  a  pair  of  kamiks,  I  sent  him  to 
help  Dr.  Cook  put  them  on.  The  Doctor  was  now 
thoroughly  chilled  again,  and  anxious  to  get  out  of 
his  bag,  so  that  he  could  warm  himself  with  exercise. 

While  he  did  this,  I  excavated  my  corner  of  the 
igloo  and  got  out  the  stove,  tea,  sugar,  and  milk,  and 
lit  the  lamp  for  a  pot  of  hot  tea.  It  was  now  11:45 
A.M.,  and  the  southern  sky  was  a  mass  of  crimson, 
rose,  purple,  and  green  clouds.  There  was  one 
dazzling  yellow  spot  where  the  sun  was  about  to 
burst  into  view.  I  pulled  the  Dahlgren  and  Acad- 
emy ensigns  and  the  sledge  banners  from  my  bag 
cover,  shook  them  out,  fastened  them  to  the  ski  and 
alpenstock  as  flagstaffs,  and  then  drove  these  into 
the  firm  snow.  At  that  moment  the  wind  freshened 
and  the  bright  folds  of  our  banners,  the  fairest  in  the 
world,  flew  out  into  the  sparkling  air. 

Then  the  yellow  sunlight  fell  upon  the  highest  bluff 
of  Northumberland  Island  west  of  us.  A  minute 
later  Cape  Robertson,  to  the  north-west,  blazed  with  a 
crown  of  glory, — and  then  the  great  yellow  orb,  for 
whose  coming  we  had  so  longed,  peered  over  the  ice- 
cap south  of  Whale  Sound. 

In  an  instant  the  snow  waves  of  the  Inland  Ice  about 
us  danced,  a  sea  of  sparkling,  molten  gold.  Neither 
gold,  nor  fame,  nor  aught  can  purchase  from  me  the 
supreme  memory  of  that  moment  when  on  the  ice-cap, 
far  above  the  earth,  with  the  rustling  of  the  Stars  and 
Stripes  in  my  ears,  I  laughed  with  the  laughing  waves 


2IO       Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 


of  the  great  white  sea,  in  greeting  to  the  returning 
sun. 

Never  before  from  the  desolate  heights  of  the  Great 
Ice  had  man  or  Hag  welcomed  the  breaking  of  the 
longed-for  dawn  which  ends  the  Great  Night  of  the 
north. 

For  many  minutes  we  watched  the  glorious  God  of 


■i^ 


%. 


EVERY  BOULDER  CASED  IN  ICE. 


Day  roll  along  the  southern  ice-cap.  Then  we  turned 
to  our  hot  tea,  and  the  completion  of  the  work  of  dig- 
ging out  our  impedimenta.  As  soon  as  I  had  finished 
my  tea,  I  transferred  m)self  from  my  bag  to  ni)-  trav- 
elling suit.  The  reader  may  imagine  the  pleasure  of 
this  performance.  My  dressing-room  was  the  Inland 
Ice,  with  the  wind  blowing  and  the  thermometer 
standing  at  3°  above  zero.      In  this  airy  and  expansive 


Imprisoned  on  the  Ice-Cap 


21  I 


dressing-room,  I  had  the  fehcity  of  emerging  from  my 
sleeping-bag,  clad  only  in  an  undershirt,  and  pulling 
on  a  frozen  pair  of  drawers  and  socks,  a  fur  coat  and 
trousers,  which  were  driven  full  of  snow,  inside  and 
out,  and  a  pair  of  kamiks,  which  had  to  be  gradually 
thawed  as  I  forced  them  upon  my  feet.  Still  I  did 
not  feel  the  cold  very  much,  probably  because  having 
been  perfectly  warm  in  my  bag  all  the  time,  I  got  out 


"JOSEPHINE  HEADLAND  SWIMMING  IN  PURPLE  LIGHT." 

of  it  in  a  glow  of  animal  heat,  and  with  sufficient  re- 
serve of  strength  and  warmth  to  carry  me  through 
the  ordeal. 

When  once  the  fur  garments  are  on,  the  sensation 
of  warmth  is  instantaneous.  As  far  as  my  own  ob- 
servation goes  with  reindeer-  or  dogskin  outer  cloth- 
ing, no  matter  how  wet  the  underclothing  or  inside  of 
the  fur  clothing  may  be,  the  wearer  does  not,  even 
while  motionless,  feel  the  cold  or  wind  in  any  ordinary 
temperature  of  not  lower  than  -25°  F.  to  -30°  F. 


212       Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

The  work  of  excavation  completed,  we  tied  up  our 
packs  and  started  for  the  house  by  way  of  One-Mile 
V'alley.  The  snow  was  so  firm  that  it  easily  supported 
me  with  a  forty-pound  pack  on  my  back.  The  force 
of  the  wind  had  been  terrific,  as  was  shown  by  the 
way  it  had  scooped  and  carved  the  surface  of  the  ice- 
cap, in  many  places  down  to  the  ice  of  the  previous 
summer.  My  swing  thermometer,  which  I  had  buried 
in  the  snow  on  Sunday  afternoon,  was  scoured  out  by 
the  force  of  the  wind  until  only  two  inches  of  it  re- 
mained in  the  snow ;  and  the  windward  side  of  the 
thermometer,  the  alpenstock,  and  the  Doctor's  snow- 
shoes,  which  had  been  driven  down  into  the  snow, 
had  a  coating  of  tough,  perfectly  transparent  ice,  a 
quarter  of  an  inch  thick.  From  the  head  of  One- 
Mile  Valley,  the  surface  of  the  table-land,  all  the  way 
down  to  Cape  Cleveland,  had  been  swept  clean  of 
snow,  and  the  upper  portions  and  sides  of  Herbert 
and  Northumberland  Islands,  Cape  Robertson,  and 
the  north  shore  of  our  bay  were  nearly  denuded. 

We  went  rapidly  along  to  the  head  of  the  valley, 
and  down  the  firm,  steep  snow-drift  in  its  centre. 
When  not  quite  half-way  down  I  was  surprised  to 
find  the  snow  covered  with  a  crust  of  opaque,  cream- 
coloured  ice.  The  surface  of  this  ice-crust  had  been 
beaten  by  the  wind  into  the  form  of  amygdaloid,  or 
furnace  slag.  A  little  farther  down,  where  the  rush 
of  the  wind  had  been  apparently  still  more  furious, 
the  snow  had  been  scoured  away  entirely,  and  the 
windward  side  of  every  boulder,  rock,  and  pebble  was 
cased  thickly  in  ice,  slightly  yellow-tinted  with  the 
fine  detritus  the  storm  had  scoured  from  the  cliffs. 

When  I  reached  the  surface  of  the  bay,  the  change 
was  startling.  Instead  of  the  deep,  level  covering  of 
soft  snow  which  was  there  four  days  before,  there  was 
now  over  only  a  portion  of   it  a  ragged  conglomerate 


Imprisoned  on  the  Ice-Cap 


213 


of  ice  and  snow  six  inches  thick  at  most,  while  over 
fully  a  third  of  the  expanse  of  the  bay  the  snow  had 
been  washed  and  scoured  away  completely,  leaving 
the  surface  of  the  ice  entirely  bare.  But  my  attention 
could  not  be  claimed  long  by  these  things,  for  the 
glory  of  the  scene  around  and  overhead  overpowered 
everything  else. 

To  the   north  and  east,  the  sky  was  purple-black. 


RED  CLIFF   HOUSE   AFTER  THE  STORM. 

shading  to  exquisite  blue  at  the  zenith.  Overhead  a 
few  dainty,  feathery  clouds  glowed  with  the  irides- 
cent hues  of  the  humming-bird's  breast  and  mother-of 
pearl.  The  western  and  south-western  sky  was  aflame 
with  dazzling  yellow  shading  into  pale  rose  and  green. 
Against  this  rose,  cji  silJwtictte,  the  majestic  cliffs  of 
Josephine  Headland  swimming  in  purple  light.  Misty 
purple  and  green  lights  floated  over  the  far-stretch- 
ing expanse  of  ice,  giving  the  countless  glistening  em- 
erald icebergs  an  indescribable  softness. 


214        Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

Even  a  mile  away,  I  could  see  that  Red  Cliff  House 
stood  out  more  prominently  than  it  had  since  October. 
It  was  evidently  denuded  of  its  snow  covering. 

Half-way  home  Mrs.  Peary  met  me  anci  told  me  of 
the  frightful  storm  and  deluge.  Nearly  all  day  Mon- 
day, the  rain  had  fallen  in  torrents,  washing  away  the 
snow-covering  of  the  house,  destroying  the  covered 
snow  entrance,  and  coming  through  the  canvas  roofs 
of  the  additions  till  it  ran  into  the  house.  The  wind 
all  the  time  hurled  itself  from  the  cliffs  upon  the  house 
with  such  force  that  the  boys  could  scarcely  stand 
against  it.  The  doors  and  windows  quivered  with 
the  assault,  but  the  house  itself,  strongly  framed, 
frozen  to  the  ground,  and  braced  and  protected  by  its 
surrounding  walls  of  stone  and  frozen  turf,  stood  firm, 
nor  did  the  wind  anywhere  effect  an  entrance. 

The  covered  snow  entrances  to  the  igloos  of  the 
settlement  were  beaten  down  and  the  igloos  them- 
selves were  very  near  destruction.  Yerhoeff  went  to 
the  tide  gauge  in  his  long-legged  rubber  boots,  and 
the  maximum  thermometer  registered  the  unprece- 
dented temperature  of  +41^°  F.  The  snow  igloo  at 
the  tide  hole  was  beaten  down,  and  Red  Cliff  House, 
as  I  approached  it,  stood  out  so  bare  and  black  that 
it  looked  as  if  it  had  been  visited  by  a  fire.  I  think 
no  such  phenomenal  war  of  the  elements,  no  such 
wild  freak  of  the  Arctic  fohn,  has  ever  before  been 
observed  in  this  latitude  in  the  month  of  February. 

We  had  experienced  an  accentuated  instance  of  the 
Greenland  fohn, — a  word  borrowed  from  the  meteor- 
ology of  Switzerland,  to  designate  the  most  remark- 
able of  the  local  winds  of  that  country,  a  south,  warm 
wind  that  occurs  in  the  Alps,  most  frequently  in  the 
spring. 

I  expected  to  hear  later  of  our  February  fohn  in 
other  parts  of  Greenland,  and  I  was  not  disappointed. 


Imprisoned  on  the  Ice-Cap 


215 


Lieut.  Ryder  was  living  for  nine  months  at  Scoresby 
Sound,  on  the  coast  of  East  Greenland,  while  we 
were  at  McCormick  Bay.  He  was  about  four  hun- 
dred and  fifty  geographical  miles  south  of  us.  The 
maximum  temperatures  he  recorded  occurred  in  Feb- 
ruar\-  and  May.  He  says  {Pctcrviaiui s.  Mitfci/iinocu, 
xi.,  1892,  page  263)  that  these  high  temperatures 
were  due  to  severe   fohn  storms,   one;   of    which,    in 


AMONG  THE  RUINS. 


February  (date  not  given),  suddenly  raised  the  ther- 
mometer to  +50°  F.,  8?,°  higher  than  my  instru- 
ments had  recorded.  Like  us,  also,  he  had  experienced 
his  lowest  temperature  in  Februar)-.  Rainfall  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  McCormick  Bay  during  February, 
or  in  other  words  during  the  sunrise  period,  is,  ac- 
cording to  native  reports,  almost  unprecedented. 

The  experience  upon  the  ice-cap,  in  its  actualities  of 
discomfort  and  possibilities  of  worse,  was  the  most 
serious  incident  in  all  the  ice-cap  work  of  the  Expedi- 
tion of  1 89 1 -1 892.  To  me  it  was  an  old  story.  I 
had  twice  been  through  similar  experiences  in  1886. 


2i6        Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

To  my  two  companions  it  was  a  stern  and  serious 
initiation  into  ice-cap  work,  and  an  emphasised  warn- 
ing of  what  they  might  expect  on  the  long  march. 

The  day  after  our  return  from  the  ice-cap  tlie  tem- 
perature rose  again  above  the  freezing-point.  The 
day  was  spent  indoors,  drying  our  bags  and  other 
equipment,  which  had  been  blown  full  of  damp  snow 
and  sleet. 

Thursday  was  a  day  of  brightness  and  sunshine  on 
the  northern  shores  of  the  bay,  and  I  immediately 
pfot  the  available  force  of  the  village  at  work,  rebuild- 
inaf  the  lono-  covered  entrance  to  the  house,  demolished 
by  the  storm.  The  now  solidly  frozen  snow  crust 
furnished  fine  quarries  for  building  blocks,  and  after 
collecting  all  the  empty  boxes  and  the  discarded  ice- 
melter  to  build  up  the  wall,  Astrup,  Dr.  Cook,  Ikwa, 
Annowkah,  and  myself  hewed  great  slabs,  two  to 
three  feet  wide  and  six  to  eight  feet  long  and  six 
inches  thick,  of  semi-ice,  and  roofed  our  entrance  bet- 
ter than  before.  I  was  very  glad  to  get  this  done  so 
quickly,  for  we  had  yet  to  meet  the  wild  storms  of 
March. 

The  more  pressing  repairs  upon  the  house  being 
completed,  my  faithful  servants  Ikwa  and  Annowkah 
set  about  the  restoration  of  their  own  half-wrecked 
dwellings  ;  and  to  expedite  their  work,  I  gave  them 
a  shovel,  snow-knife,  and  hatchet.  Then  Dr.  Cook, 
Astrup,  and  I  betook  ourselves  to  our  ski,  and  coasted 
merrily  down  the  hill  back  of  the  house,  with  many  a 
ludicrous  tumble.  Even  the  Eskimos  became  infected 
with  the  spirit  of  merriment,  and  got  out  a  Greenland 
sledge  and  coasted  with  us.  Mrs.  Peary,  in  the  mean- 
time, watched  the  sport  and  caught  us  with  the  camera. 
In  the  afternoon,  Annowkah  and  I  rebuilt  the  snow 
gable  on  the  south  end  of  the  house.  The  next  day 
Matt  and  I,  with  my  Greenland  sledge  and  the  two 


Imprisoned  on  the  Ice-Cap 


117 


dogs,  went  up  to  One-Mile  Valley  after  my  pack,  which 
I  had  left  near  its  head  on  Tuesday.  Some  distance 
below  the  pack  I  had  to  leave  the  sledge  and  dogs 
on  account  of  the  steepness  of  the  ascent,  and  bring 
the  pack  down  to  them  on  my  back. 

When  we  started  back,  I  drove  the  point  of  my 
alpenstock  between  two  sledge  cross-bars,  three  or 
four  inches   into  the  snow,  and  with  this  as  a  brake, 


^iS^ 


EFFECTING  REPAIRS. 


I  was  able  to  retain  con- 
trol of  the  sledore  until  we 
reached  a  more  gently  slop- 
ing part  of  the  lower  valley. 
Here  I  thought  we  were  safe, 
but  frequent  patches  of  bare  ice, 
from  which  the  last  light  snow  had 
been  blown,  gave  the  sledge  such  ve- 
locity that  I  was  glad  to  apply  the  brake 
again.  Even  then,  we  travelled  like  the  wind,  the  dogs 
at  their  liveliest  gallop,  unable  to  keep  the  traces 
straight.  Suddenly,  the  iron  point  of  my  alpenstock 
broke  short  off,  and  in  a  moment  the  sides  of  the 
valley  became  »  roaring   mist,   and    the    poor    dogs, 


2i8        Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

howlinj^r    and    yelping,    were    rolling    and     bounding 
through  the  air  in  tow  of  the  shooting  sledge. 

I  did  my  best  to  make  the  end  of  my  alpenstock 
bite  into  the  snow,  and  just  as  everything  was  becom- 
ing invisible  in  our  mad  rush,  I  succeeded,  with  the 
result  of  hurling  Matt,  who  was  behind  me,  over  my 
head  upon  the  snow  in  front,  and  bringing  the  poor 
dogs  up  with  a  thump  and  a  yelp  in  a  breathless  mass 
against  the  upstanders.  After  this,  we  went  on  more 
carefully  and  soon  reached  the  house. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

PRE1'AR1X(;    K(>k     THE    ICE-CAl'    CAMI'AIGX. 

An  Anxious  Ehisouk — Jack  Rescueu  at  Last — Wild  Weather — The 
Grip — Ikwa  Ices  his  Sledge  Runners — Spring  Hunting — A  Trip  to  the 
Ice-Cap — Lunching  in  Comfort  in  a  Temperature  of  —32'  F.,  3825 
Feet  above  the  Sea — New  Visitors  from  Cape  York — Weather  Re- 
ports from  all  along  the  Coast — A  Mild  Winter — Sledge  Trips  to 
Herbert  Island — Sending  Supplies  to  the  Ice-Cap — Mv  Eskimo  Mail 
Carrier 


WOMAN   AND  CHILD. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


PREPARING    FOR    THE    ICE-CAP    CAMPAIGN. 


AFTER  lunch,  on  Fri- 
day, February 
19th,  Astrijp  and 
Dr.  Cook  started  off  to 
build  some  cairns  on  the 
brow  of  the  bluffs  from 
Cape  Cleveland  to  Three- 
Mile  Valley.  They 
thought  they  would  make 
the  ascent  at  Cape  Cleve- 
land and  started  in  that 
direction.  Old  Arrotok- 
soah  and  his  wife  left  us  at  eight  a.m.  for  Netiulume, 
and  a  little  later,  Ikwa  started  with  his  sledge  and  my 
one  remaining  Eskimo  dog.  This  day,  for  the  first 
time,  we  ate  our  lunch  by  daylight,  the  lamps  being 
put  out  from  one  until  two  p.m. 

While  we  were  at  dinner,  Ikwa  came  back  and  said 
that  in  passing  Cape  Cleveland  he  had  heard  a  small 
snow-slide.  I  thought  nothing  of  this  at  the  time, 
but  about  nine  p.m.  Arrotoksoah  and  his  wife  returned, 
having  found  the  travelling  over  the  Whale-Sound 
ice  too  rough  for  them.  Old  Sairey  Gamp  said  she 
had  heard  Dr.  Cook  shouting  and  Jack  barking  as 
they  were  passing  Cape  Cleveland.  I  did  not  like 
the  looks  of  this,  and  immediately  told  Gibson  to  get 


222        Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 


ready  to  go  down  to  the  cape  with  me,  and  putting  a 
Hask  of  rum  in  my  poclcet,  and  taking  my  alpenstock 
in  one  hand  and  a  bull's-eye  lantern  in  the  other,  I 
started  off  with  him. 

We  made  good  time  to  the  cape,  and  just  before 
reaching  it,  heard  Jack  bark  well  up  thecliff  in  answer  to 

my  shout.  Then 
we  left  the  sledge 
track,  and  went 
directly  to  the  sig- 
nal flag,  following 
Dr.  Cook's  track 
of  the  da\'  before. 
While  at  the 
signal  s  t  a  ft  ,  a 
mournful  long- 
drawn-out  howl 
brokethrough  the 
gloomy,  starle-ss 
night,  from  the 
darker  gloom  of 
the  bluft  above  us, 
and  filled  me  with 
forebodings.  I 
shouted  Dr. 
Cook's  name 
again  and  again, 
without  answer,  except  Jack's  tlismal  wail. 

A  few  steps  from  the  signal,  we  found  the  l:)0)s' 
tracks  leading  straight  up  the  steep  snow-slope  to- 
wards the  trap  ledge,  which  1  knew  projected  trom  the 
bluff  about  half-way  up.  Following  the  tracks  as  well 
as  we  could  through  the  gloom,  we  found  two  or  three 
places  where  the  boys  had  slipped  and  slid  some  dis- 
tance ;  and  then,  just  as  a  particularly  mournful  howl 
came  from  Jack,  I  saw  one  of  Dr.  Cook's  snow-shoes 


JACK. 


Preparing  for  the  Ice-Cap  Campaign     227, 

lying  on  the  snow,  where  it  had  fallen  from  above. 
A  little  above  it,  breaks  in  the  snow  looked  as  if  made 
by  the  spent  debris  from  a  slide  arrested  some  distance 
up,  perhaps  at  the  trap  ledge. 

Again  my  shouts  elicited  no  answer,  save  Jack's 
doleful  howls,  and  the  rustle  of  the  biting  wind.  Fhe 
whole  thing  seemed  clear  to  me.  The  boys,  in  going 
up,  had  detached  some  of  the  rotten  masses  of  trap, 
which  had  fallen  upon  them  and  either  pinned  them 
down  or  crippled  them  so  that  they  could  not  move. 
Dr.  Cook  was  still  able,  when  the  old  couple  passed, 
to  call  to  them,  but  now  he  had  fainted,  or  liecome 
numb  with  cold  ;  Jack,  with  a  dog's  instinct  of  calam- 
ity, was  howling  by  the  side  of 
his  two  human  friends,  who 
were  probably  senseless.  I 
could  not  bring  myself  to  be- 
lieve that  the  mishap  was 
greater  than  this. 

A  few  steps  farther  showed 
me  the  utter  futility  of  our  try- 


SHOEING    A    SLEDGE   WITH    ICE. 


224        Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice 


ing  to  go  up  in  the  darkness  without  hnes  or  hatcliets. 
The  cold  alone,  I  felt  sure,would  not  endanger  the  boys, 
as  the  temperature  was  comparatively  mild  (— 3-t°F. ), 
and  both  were  clad  in  complete  reindeer  suits. 

The  proper  way  was  to  return  to  the  house  with  all 
possible  speed,  and  come  back  with  the  three  natives, 
Verhoeff,  sledges,  lines,  sleeping-bags,  lights,  and 
everything  necessary  to  get  the  boys  down  with- 
out delay  as  soon  as  we  reached  them.  I  need  not 
say  that  I  led  the  return  to  the  house  at  a  half-run, 
and  long  before  reaching  it,  had  decided  wdiat  every 
man  should  do,  so  that  we  could  start  back  in  less  than 
ten  minutes.  I  pushed  open  the  door  with  the  first 
order  on  my  lips,  but  the  spectacle  before  me  left  it 
unuttered. 

There  sat  the  two  boys  at  the  table  eating  their  sup- 
per with  excellent  appe- 
tites. The  clock  over  the 
table  recorded  11:45  f-^'- 
No  one  who  has  not  been 
through  a  similar  experi- 
ence can  understand  my 
feeling  of  relief. 

The  story  of  the  boys 
was  soon 
told.  They 
had  had 
much  trou- 
ble in  get- 
ting up  the 
slope,  and 
it  was  al- 
ready get- 
ting dark 
when   the 

old    couple  SHOEING    A    SLEDGE    WITH    ICE 


Preparing  for  the  Ice-Cap  Campaign     225 

passed  the  cape,  the  boys  being-  less  than  half-way  to 
the  summit.  The  ascent  was  so  steep,  however,  that 
to  return  was  impossible,  and  so,  laboriously  cutting 
steps  with  the  heels  of  the  Doctor's  snow-shoes,  the 
only  implement  they  had,  they  climbed  slowly  up, 
hanging  on  by  tooth  and  nail,  and  finally  reached  the 
plateau  at  the  top.  Jack,  who  had  followed  them,  had 
gone  part  way  up  the  cliff  and  then  could  not  go  far- 
ther. Travelling  along  the  plateau  to  Mile  Valley, 
they  descended  there,  and  returned  to  the  house  over 
the  bay  ice. 

This  incident  perhaps  seems  trivial.  Possibly  with- 
out my  being  aware  of  it,  the  gloom  of  the  Great  Night 
had  rendered  me  abnormally  susceptible.  Yet  the  mem- 
ory of  that  time  when  Jack's  mournful  howl  fell  through 
the  gloom  of  the  sombre  starless  night  upon  my  ears, 
and  I  pictured  my  comrades  lying  up  there  crippled  or 
dead,  and  thought  of  the  crushing  possibilities  of  the 
catastrophe,  always  comes  back  to  me  as  a  nightmare. 

There  was  reason  for  my  fears.  Six  months  later, 
another  of  my  party,  young  Verhoeff,  passed  to  the 
unknown  in  the  full  light  of  the  long  summer  day, 
under  circumstances  which  previous  to  the  catastrophe 
seemed  less  fraught  with  possibilities  of  danger  than 
those  here  described. 

The  next  day,  with  Mrs.  Peary  and  Astrup,  I  went 
down  to  the  cape  to  rescue  Jack,  who  had  not  been 
able  to  get  down,  but  before  we  could  get  steps  cut  up 
the  bluff  to  him,  night  compelled  me  to  give  up  the 
attempt. 

Sunday  night,  February  21st,  all  my  family,  four- 
footed  as  well  as  biped,  were  again  safe  within  the 
precincts  of  Red  Cliff  House.  During  the  day  Dr. 
Cook  and  I  had  rescued  Jack  from  his  unpleasant 
perch  up  the  Cape-Cleveland  bluff,  in  the  midst  of  a 
succession  of  violent  snow-squalls  which  blinded  and 


226        Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

half-suffocated  us,  and  almost  tore  us  from  our  preca- 
rious position,  where,  flattened  against  the  bluft,  we 
clung  with  hands  and  feet  to  shallow  steps  which  we 
had  cut  with  hatchets  in  the  snow  and  ice. 

It  was  with  a  feeling  of  relief  that  I  finally  reached 
the  foot  of  the  cliff  with  the  whinino-  and  trembline 
brute,  my  face  stung  almost  to  bleeding  with  the 
snow,  and  arms  and  legs  aching  from  the  continued 
grip  upon  the  steps. 

On  our  return,  we  met  Mrs.  Peary,  who  had  started 
to  bring  us  some  lunch,  but  had  been  blinded  and 
bewildered  by  the  snow,  and  actually  hurled  from 
her  feet  by  the  fury  of  the  wind,  which  obliged  her, 
bruised  and  breathless,  to  creep  for  shelter  among  the 
blocks  of  the  ice-foot. 

It  had  been  a  savage  week.  The  wild  rush  of  the 
fcihn,  with  its  phenomenal  high  temperatures  through 
this  region,  had  transformed  the  atmosphere  into  a 
tumultuous  cauldron  of  fierce  winds  which  even  the 
returning  cold  had  not  yet  fettered. 

The  week  beginning  Monday,  February  2 2d,  in- 
troduced a  surprising  experience  in  arctic  regions. 
Some  of  us  were  attacked  by  an  ailment  that  was 
unmistakably  the  grip,  and  we  did  not  recover  from 
its  effects  for  several  weeks.  On  Tuesday,  Mrs. 
Peary  was  violently  ill,  and  the  ailment  soon  became 
epidemic  at  Red  Cliff.  We  thought  the  outbreak 
was  traceable  to  the  extraordinary  storm  of  the  pre- 
vious week.  Mrs.  Peary,  Gibson,  and  both  of  my 
Eskimo  women,  with  their  babies,  were  the  first  vic- 
tims, and  none  of  us  entirely  escaped,  though  my 
share  of  the  infliction  did  not  come  until  March  28th, 
when  I  was  confined  to  the  house  for  several  days. 

Of  course  the  Red-Cliff  colony  celebrated  Wash- 
ington's birthday.  We  spread  an  appetising  banquet, 
and  our  usually  simple  fare  gave  way  to  a  bounteous 


Preparing-  for  the  Ice-Cap  Campaign     227 

supplv  of  broiled,  truiUemot  breasts,  venison  pasty, 
pandowdy,  green  peas,  corn,  liebfraumilch,  and  choc- 
olate Gibson  set  out  with  his  rifle  to  look  for  the 
seals  I  had  seen  off  Cape  Cleveland,  and  Annowkah 
went  up  the  bay  to  hunt  for  seal  holes.  Gibson 
returned  without  seeing  any  seals,  but  Annowkah  re- 
ported a  seal  hole  and  saw  a  deer  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  Mile  Valley.  Ravens  were  flying  over  the 
house  and  other  signs  of  returning  animal  life  were 
increasing.  At  noon  on  March  2d,  the  thermome- 
ter registered  -43°  F. 


MATT  AND  ANNOWKAH  RETURNING  FROM  THE  DLER  HUNl. 

I  drilled  through  the  bay  ice  east  of  the  tide  gauge 
and  found  its  thickness  to  be  three  feet  eight  inches. 
The  February  thaw,  together  with  a  blanket  of  snow, 
had  stopped  all  increase  in  the  thickness  of  the  ice  for 


228        Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 


several  weeks.  The  snow  on  the  ice  weighed  it  down 
till  the  water  rose  nearly  to  its  surface.  The  low 
temperatures  resulted  in  numerous  mist-wreaths 
along  the  shore  of  the  bay  and  the  icebergs,  and  our  ice 
for  melting  purposes,  when  brought  into  the  house 
and  dropped  into  the  pails  of  water,  snapped,  crackled, 
and  fell  to  pieces.  The  sound  reminded  me  of  the  crack- 
ling of  wood  in  pleasant  fireplaces  in  the  home  land. 

The  low  temperatures  also  led  Ikwa  to  give  his 
sledge  shoes  of  ice,  a  process  that  interested  me  very 
much.  First,  he  covered  the  bottoms  of  the  runners 
with  a  continuous  strip  of  thick  walrus  hide,  2|^  inches 
wide,  with  the  hair  on.  This  was  fastened  on  by 
rawhide  lashings  passed  through  slits  cut  in  the 
edges.  When  this  was  frozen  hard,  a  coating  of  snow 
dipped  in  warm  urine  was  applied  and  shaped  and 
pressed  with  the  hands,  until  the  entire  length  of  the 
runner  was  covered  three-fourths  of  an  inch  to 
an  inch  thick.  This,  in 
turn,  was  allowed  to 
freeze  solid,  and  then 
chipped  and  smoothed 
with  a  knife,  and  finally 
rubbed  down  with  the 
hand  dipped  in  water. 
Here  is  a  section  of  the 
finished  runner. 

On  the  night  of  March 
2d,  with  the  temperature 
—  35°  F. — Kennan's  limit 
of  comfort  in  Siberia — 
I  took  my  reindeer  bag 
and  slept  outside  on  the 
snow.  Leaving  the  house,  dressed  in  my  complete  fur 
travelling  suit,  I  took  a  walk  on  the  bay,  and  then  return- 
ing, undressed  in  the  open  air,  to  my  undershirt  and  a 


-VoJUxAJi  VaARj 


SECTION    OF    ICE-SHOE. 


Preparing  for  the  Ice-Cap  Campaign     229 

pair  of  reindeer  socks,  _orot  into  my  bag,  arranged  it  all 
without  the  stimulus  of  food  or  hot  tea,  and  in  a  few  min- 
utes was  comfortable,  and  slept  well  through  the  night. 
Thursday  morning,  March  3d,  Matt  and  Annowkah 
started  after  deer  to  the  head  of  the  bay,  with  the 
Princess  sledge,  sleeping-gear,  and  five  days'  pro- 
visions. Jack,  my  Newfoundland  dog,  easily  dragged 
their  sledge,  weighing  over  1 50  pounds,  along  the  ice- 
foot. Next  day,  Ikwa,  who  had  gone  around  Cape 
Cleveland  after  deer,  returned  with  a  fine  animal,  and 
this  opened  the  spring  hunting  season. 


ESKIMO    BITCH    AND    PUPPIES. 


From  noon  until  sunset  on  March  4th,  there  was  a 
parhelion,  of  which  only  the  upper  and  right-hand 
images  were  visible,  the  rest  of  the  phenomenon  be- 
ing hidden  behind  the  cliffs,  and  the  sun  being  too 


230        Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

low  for  the  lower  image.  After  the  sun  got  past  Cape 
Cleveland,  there  was  a  bright  pencil  of  light  streaming 
upward  from  the  orb  and  about  eleven  degrees  long. 
The  angular  radius  of  the  parhelion  circle  was  22^°  F. 
For  the  appearance  of  the  parhelion,  see  page  243. 

After  lunch,  Sunday,  March  6th.  Matt  and  Annowkah 
returned,  having  shot  four  deer.  They  had  slept  in  a 
snow  igloo  and  suffered  no  discomfort,  though  the  out- 
side temperature  had  been  from  -40°  F.  to  -50"  F.  at 
Red  Cliff  House,  and  possibly  lower  where  they  were. 
It  should  be  remembered  that  one  of  these  men  was  of 
African  descent,  and  his  only  experience  of  tempera- 


ICE-CAP    BEYOND    FOUR-MILE    VALLEY. 

tures  away  from  his  home  had  been  gainetl  in  the  tropi- 
cal climate  of  Central  America.  The  season  had  opened 
very  auspiciously.  Our  total  record  now  was  thirt\- 
six  deer.  The  spring  deerskins  were  quite  different 
from  those  secured  in  the  fall,  beintr  much  litrhter  and 
thinner  as  to  the  leather.  The  fur  was  as  heavy,  but 
seemed  to  have  no  adhesion  to  the  skin,  and  we  were 
unable  to  make  an)'  use  of  them. 

About  4:30  P.M.,  on  March  8th,  the  sun,  just  before 
setting,  shone,  for  the  first  time,  on  the  house,  and  on 
the  14th,  it  shone  for  the  first  time  on  the  window  of 
my  room. 


Preparing  for  the  Ice-Cap  Campaign 


2;i 


Late  on  the  afternoon  of  March  i  2th,  Gibson  and 
Annowkah  returned  from  a  hunting  trip  to  F"ive-Gla- 
cier  Valley  with  two  deerskins  on  the  sledge.  Gibson 
had  left  the  house  with  a  formidable  equipment  to 
protect  him  against  the  cold,  but  had  never  opened 
his  clothes-bag,  and  had  left  it  on  the  bay  ice  all  the 
time  he  was  hunting.  He  said  the  temperature  in 
their  snow  igloo  was  from  +40°  F.  to  +45°  F. 

Saturday,  March  19th, 
my  Eskimo  bitch  gave 
birth  to  a  litter  of  nine 
pups,  only  one  of  which 
was  a  male.  Later  I  ob- 
served, frequently,  this 
disproportion  of  the 
sexes  among  the  dogs, 
and  noted  the  same  pe- 
culiarity in  the  propor- 
tion of  the  sexes  among 
the  natives.  The  female 
children  are  considerably 
in  excess  of  the  males. 
This  seems  a  wise  pro- 
vision of  nature  to  con- 
tinue the  species.  I  com- 
pleted my  sledge  the 
same  day,  and  was  much  pleased  with  it.  It  weighed 
twenty  pounds,  was  twelve  feet  five  inches  long,  thir- 
teen feet  one  inch  long  from  tip  to  tip  of  runners,  and 
sixteen  inches  wide. 

Monday,  March  21st,  I  started  early  for  the  ice-cap 
east  of  Four-Mile  Valley,  to  observe  the  conditions  on 
the  Inland  Ice,  which  was  soon  to  be  my  route  to  the 
far  North.  The  morning  was  clear  and  calm.  I  took 
with  me  my  lunch,  a  riHe,  an  aneroid,  thermometer, 
and  snow-shoes.     My  costume  consisted  of  a  very  light 


KOKO. 


Northward  over  the  "  Great  Ice 


woollen  undershirt,  a  pair  of  light  woollen  socks,  a 
pair  of  blanket  foot-wraps,  a  light  woollen  skull-cap.  a 
reindeer-skin  kooletah,  a  pair  of  dogskin  trousers, 
a  pair  of  kamiks,  and  a  pair  of  deerskin  and  blanket 
mittens — a  total  weight  of  about  twelve  pounds — less 
than  that  of  a  winter  costume  at  home. 

On  leaving  the  bay,  I  put  on  my  snow-shoes  and 
kept  them  on  until  I  reached  the  ice-cap.  In  the  nar- 
row part  of  the  \alley, 
most  of  the  surface  was 
covered  with  ice,  formed 
after  the  February  rain- 
storm, and  in  places  the 
bed  of  the  valley  torrent 
showed  that  there  had 
been  a  considerable 
stream  running  there 
during  the  storm. 

On  the  ice-cap  a  fresh 
breeze  was  blowing,  and 
though  the  sun  was  shin- 
ing brightly,  and  there 
was  blue  sky  overhead, 
all  the  upper  part  of  McCormick  Bay  was  hidden  by 
lead-coloured  cumulus  clouds,  and  Inglefield  Gulf  lay 
invisible  behind  a  dazzling  white  mist.  I  took  off  my 
snow-shoes,  the  surface  being  so  hard  that  my  feet 
made  no  impression  on  it,  and  walked  along  briskly 
over  the  marble  pavement.  Every  inequality  had  been 
formed  by  south-east  winds  ;  and  it  seemed  to  me  that 
on  the  ice-cap  proper  the  wind  must  blow  almost  in- 
variably from  a  direction  between  south  and  east. 

On  the  top  of  the  first  swell  of  the  ice-cap,  at  an 
elevation  of  about  3000  feet,  I  was  surprised  to  find 
coarse,  granular  ice  similar  in  appearance  to  places  on 
the  bay  where  the  wind  had  scoured  the  snow  away. 


THE    WIDOW    NUIKINGWAH. 


Preparing  for  the  Ice-Cap  Campaign 


Beyond  this  there  was  hard  snow  again.  At  an  eleva- 
tion of  3825  feet,  I  surmounted  the  second  swell  and 
had  before  me,  apparently,  an  extensive  level,  although 
the  snow-drift  may  have  been  deceptive. 

Here  I  took  my  lunch,  seated  upon  the  snow,  with 
my  back  to  the  wind  ;  and  although  it  was  blowing  a 
gale,  and  the  air  was  thick  with  drifting  snow,  while 
the  swinging  thermometer  read  —  32°  F.,  I  ate  my  lunch 
deliberately  and  in  comfort.  So  much  for  reindeer 
clothing.  Had  I  been  clad  in  woollens  I  could  not 
have  remained  quiet  an  instant. 

Turning  back  and  scudding  before  the  gale,  it 
did  not  take  long  to  reach  the  head  of  the  vaHey.  I 
was  fairly  blown  down  the  gorge  and  out  into  the 
bay,  where  I  found  the  faint  sledge  trail  and  followed 
it  through  the  blinding  drift  by  feeling,  rather  than 
by  sight,  till  I  reached  the  house.  I  was'much  pleased 
to  attain  the  elevation  of  3800  feet  on  the  Inland  Ice, 
so  easily  and  quickly.  I  was  also  interested  in  these 
meteorological  notes'  : 


& 


Temperature  on  the  bay  in  the  shade ~3i°  F- 

Temperature  on  the  bay  in  the  sun ^29°  " 

Barometer -9-98     " 

Attached  thermometer    +52°   " 

Temperature  in  the  valley  at  an  elevation  of  1400  " 

feet —  25°  " 

Temperature  in  the  valley,  thermometer  exposed  " 

to  the  sun  against  a  rock ~  '5°  " 

Barometer 28.50     " 

Attached  thermometer +72"  " 

Temperature  at  the  summit ~32°  " 

Barometer 26.07     " 

Attached  tliermometer +40°   " 

The  temperatures  shown  by  the  attached  thermo- 
meter of  the  aneroid  are  interesting,  as   giving   the 

'The  thermometer  \v.->s  a  mercurial  swing  (H.   J.    Green,  No.  6651),     The 
barometer  was  a  Keiiffel  and  Esser  I J.^ -inch  aneroid  reading  to  Sooo  feet. 


234        Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 


tL-mptratures  inside  my  kooletah.  The  barometer  was 
carrictl  suspended  from  a  string  about  my  neck  and 
hung  on  mv  chest  between  my  kooletah  and  under- 
shirt. The  temperature  of  +53°  F.  was  the  comfort- 
able warmth  produced  by  brisk  walking  on  the  bay  ; 
the  high  temperature  of  +72°  F.  was  caused  by  the 
exercise  of  climbing  up  the  steep  valley  in  the  sun  ; 
and   the  low  but   not   uncomfortable   temperature   of 

+40°  F.,  by  my  cessation  of 
exercise  while  eating  lunch  in 
the  thirty-two-degrees-below- 
zero  gale  on  the  ice-cap. 

March,  on  the  whole,  was  a 
blustering  month,  with  many 
snow-squalls  and  very  low  tem- 
peratures during  the  first  part. 
The  week  following  my  recon- 
naissance of  the  ice-cap  was 
one  of  continuous  blustering 
weather.  The  wind  howled 
over  the  cliffs  and  a))out  the 
house,  like  a  pack  of  wolves, 
and  the  air  was  constantly  full 
of  a  Ijlinding  drift  of  snow.  No 
phase  of  the  weather,  however, 
interrupted  our  bus)-  prepara- 
tions for  the  coming  campaign. 
As  soon  as  we  could  see  to 
work  out-of-doors,  in  the  latter 
part  of  February,  we  were  busy  with  sledge-making 
and  other  articles  of  our  outfit,  in  temperatures  of 
—  iQ'  ]'.  to  —  25°F.  In  these  temperatures  I  usually 
worked  in  my  dogskin  trousers,  an  undershirt,  and  a 
guernsev.  Saturday  afternoon,  March  26th,  it  cleared, 
and  Northumberland  and  Hakluyt  Islands  were  visible 
for  the  first  time  in  six  days. 


THE    WIDOW'S    MITE. 


Preparing  for  the  Ice-Cap  Campaign     235 

There  was,  however,  no  doubt  in  nn-  mind  that  the 
winter,  as  a  whole,  had  been  mild  ;  that  there  had  been 
an  unusual  amount  of  open  water  in  Smith  Sound  ;  and 
that  the  heavy,  and  I  think  exceptional,  snow-fall 
had  kept  the  ice  comparatively  thin,  which  would  iacil- 
itate  its  breaking  up  early  in  the  summer.  The  month 
went  out  like  a  lamb,  with  occasional  sunshine  and  a 
little  light  snow.  On  the  side  of  the  roof  exposed  to 
the  sun,  the  thermometer,  laid  on  the  tar  red  paper,  read 
+  32^  °  F.  The  snow  was  disappearing  in  the  form 
of  vapour,  and  there  were  little  tricklings  of  water 
down  the  tarred  paper. 


EASTERN    END    OF    HERBERT    ISLAND. 

On  Monday,  April  4th,  our  old  friends,  Kla\u,  the 
widow,  with  her  two  daughters,  Tookumingwah  and 
Inerleah  ;  Nuikingwah,  another  widow,  with  her  child, 
whom  we  had  not  seen  before,  and  two  men,  came  in 
from  a  little  north  of  Cape  York.  They  said  there 
had  been  much  wind  there  during  the  winter.  The 
prevailing  wind  at  Cape  York  had  been  from  the 
south,  but  all  along  the  north  coast  the  wind  had 
come  from  off  the  shore.  There  had  not  been  much 
snow,  nor  had  it  been  very  cold.  Off  Akpani  ( Saun- 
ders Island)  there  was  open  water  and  the  ice  was  thin. 
One  of  the  men   put  his  hands  about  fifteen  inches 


2^,6        Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice 


apart,  to  show  the  thickness  of  the  ice.  During  the 
forenoon  a  very  affectionate  couple  came  in  on  foot, 
the  man  with  an  old  rifle  with  the  stamp,  "  Tower, 
1868,"  on  it.  I  was  up  till  after  midnight,  taking 
photographs  of  the  new  subjects. 

On'Tuesday,  April  5th,  I  sent  Gibson  with  Kessuh 
and  his  five  dogs,  to  take  Inland-Ice  supplies  to  the 
head  of  the  bay,  and  then  go  to  Five-Glacier  Valley, 
to  hunt  deer  for  several  days.  I  hired  three  fine  dogs 
for  the  Inland-Ice  trip,  and  immediately  started  with 
them  for  the  east  end  of  Herbert  Island,  partly  to  get 


THE    FIRST    LOAD    FOR    THE    ICE-CAP. 


some  blubber  cached  there,  for  Megipsu  and  her  fam- 
ily, and  partly  to  try  the  dog.s.  Astrup  and  Annowkah 
accompanied  me,  and  I  took  my  long  sledge.  We  left 
Red  Cliff  Houseat  10:15  a.m.,  passed  Cape  Cleveland  at 
eleven  o'clock,  and  reached  the  east  end  of  Herbert  Isl- 
and at  three  p.m.  There  we  found  several  ruined  stone 
igloos,  two  of  which  had  been  fixed  up  and  made  habit- 
able. They  were  built  of  large  red,  sandstone  slabs. 
The  extreme  east  end  of  Herbert  Island  is  a  fine  bold 
cliff  of  dark  red  sandstone,  with  a  cap  one   hundred 


Preparing  for  the  Ice-Cap  Campaign     237 

to  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  thick  of  Hghter  sandstone. 
The  entire  end  of  the  island  is  unscalable.  I  stopped 
long  enough  to  make  tea  and  take  our  lunch  in  one 
of  the  igloos,  dig  out  the  blubber  from  its  pile  of 
stones  and  get  it  down  to  the  sledge.  Then,  at  5:30 
P.M.,  we  started  on  the  return.  With  a  gross  load  of 
about  three  hundred  pounds,  the  dogs  went  along  very 
well  for  some  time,  but  getting  tired,  and  1  having 
broken  my  whip,  they  shirked  their  work,  and  Astrup 


TALAKOTEAH  AND   HIS  FAMILY. 

and  .Annowkah  had  to  take  turns  pulling  with  them. 
At  11:15  we  passed  Cape  Cleveland  again,  and  at 
11:55  I  entered  Red  Cliff  House,  having  been  absent 
13!  hours,  of  which  i  if  were  spent  travelling. 

Friday,    April   8th,    Gibson   and    Kessuh    returned 
in    the    afternoon,  having  had    no   luck  hunting.      I 


23S        Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

purchased  all  five  of  Kessuh's  dogs.  Next  morning, 
I  started  again  with  Kessuh,  six  dogs  and  sledge  for 
the  east  end  of  Herbert  Island.  We  reached  the 
island  at  three  r.M.,  got  a  little  dog  meat,  travelled 
along  the  north  shore  of  the  island,  dug  out  two  cached 
seals,  and  reached  home  at  11:45  ''■^'-  The  distance 
from  Red  Cliff  House  to  Kioktoksuami,  at  the  east 
end  of  Herbert  Island,  and  return,  by  odometer,  is 
28.12  miles,  so  that  my  new  sledge  on  the  two  trips 
had  travelled  about  sixt)-  miles.  Our  last  trip  was 
made  on  a  perfect  da)',  though  the  thermometer  was 
below  —20°  F.  Even  while  riding  on  the  sledge,  I 
was  comfortable  in  my  dogskin  trousers,  no  drawers, 
a  Jaros  undershirt,  and  sealskin  timiak.  During  the 
return  journey,  Kessuh  complained  of  the  cold  and 
repeatedly  warmed  his  hands  by  placing  them  under 
his  foxskin  coat  upon  his  bare  stomach.  The  opera- 
tion gave  me  the  first  shiver  I  had  experienced.  He 
told  me  he  knew  of  large  iron  rocks  (probably  the  iron 
mountains  of  Sir  )ohn  Ross)  near  Cape  York. 

Sunday,  April  loth,  was  a  beautiful  day,  which  I 
gave  up  entirely  to  reading  and  basking  in  the  sun 
on  the  roof.  On  Monday,  April  iith,  Astriip,  Matt, 
Kuku,  and  Kyo,  with  one  sledge  and  eight  dogs, 
started  for  the  head  of  the  bay  with  supplies  for  the 
Inland-Ice  trip.  Matt  returned  at  eight  p.m.,  with  the 
sledee  and  does.  The  others  were  to  remain  at  the 
head  of  the  bay  for  three  days,  carrymg  the  supplies 
up  on  the  Inland-Ice  and  hunting  deer.  Mrs.  Peary 
and  I  were  busy  preparing  pea  soup  and  bacon-fat  bri- 
quettes for  the  ice-cap  journey. 

Tuesday,  April  12th,  Kessuh  started  off  with  a 
gun  in  the  forenoon  after  seals,  and  while  we  were  at 
lunch  he  returned  with  a  family  consisting  of  Tala- 
koteah — father.  Arrotingwah — mother,  Ooblooah — 
son, and  Nettuh — daughter,  frcm  Cape  York.     Return- 


Preparing  for  the  Ice-Cap  Campaign     239 

ing  behind  their  sledge  was  poor  old  Frank,  one  of 
my  Newfoundland  dogs.  He  always  seemed  to  prefer 
native  society  to  ours,  and  had  strayed  away  with 
a  departing  company  of  Eskimos  about  three  months 
before.  He  returned  poor  in  Besh.  scarred,  limping 
from  many  battles  with  the  wolf-fanged  Eskimo 
dogs,  and  scarcely  able  to  move,  but  he  showed  the 
same  curled  lip  by  way  of  a  smile  as  of  old,  when  I 
spoke  to  him,  as  he  struggled  up  the  path  and  threw 
himself  down.  The  poor  old  veteran  had  had  a  hard 
winter  of  it.  Some  one  had  tied  around  his  neck  a 
bearskin  collar,  whether  as  charm  or  token  of  rever- 
ence I  do  not  know. 


FRANK,    THE    RETURNING    PRODIGAL. 

Thursday,  April  14th.  I  sent  Matt  to  the  head  of 
the  bay  with  145  pounds  of  pemmican.  The  other 
party  returned  at  dinner  time  from  their  work  at  the 
head  of  the  bay.  Astriip  had  secured  one  deer,  and 
taken  si.x  loads  up  the  bluff  to  the  ice,  leaving  nine 
loads  on  the  shore.  Matt  returned  at  eight  p.m.,  hav- 
ing  left  his  load  of  pemmican  at  Hanging  Glacier,  on 
account  of  the  snow.      Saturday  about  midnight,  an- 


240        Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 


other  family  of  Eskimos,  a  man,  woman,  and  little  boy, 
and,  best  of  all,  four  dogs,  arrived.  The  dogs  were 
immediately  purchased. 

In  the  morning,  Talakoteah,  his  wife,  boy,  and  girl, 
with  Kessuh  and  Klayu's  little  girl,  left  us.  Talako- 
teah took  letters  which  he  promised  to  give  to  any 
whaling  captain  whom  he   might  see  at  Cape  York. 

It  was  a  novel  sensation 
to  see  him  leave  us  carry- 
ing a  mail.  This  native 
was  about  to  return  to 
his  home,  over  two  hun- 
dred miles  south  of  us. 
It  was  the  first  time  that 
an  explorer  had  confided 
toanyof  the  Arctic  High- 
landers mail  matter  in- 
tended for  civilised  lands. 
I  believed  that  the  Eski- 
mo, some  time  durincr 
the  season,  would  have 
an  opportunity  to  give 
the  letters  to  the  captain 
of  one  of  the  whalers 
which  every  year  reach 
the  neighbourhood  of 
Cape  York  and  then  cross 
over  to  their  whaling 
grounds  in  Lancaster 
Sound.  If  we  were  not 
able  to  communicate 
otherwise  with  civilisa- 
tion that  year,  I  thought 
there  was  a  strong  proba- 
bility that  this  mail,  in  the  course  of  the  year,  would 
reach  America  and  inform  our  friends  how  things  had 


MY    ESKIMO    MAIL    CARRIER. 


Preparing  for  the  Ice-Cap  Campaign     241 

gone  with  us  during  the  long  winter  niglit  and  up  to 
the  time  that  we  were  about  to  begin  our  sledging 
work.  I  gave  my  mail  carrier  a  hatchet  by  way  of 
postage,  and  he  faithfully  carried  out  the  trust.  He 
gave  the  package  of  letters  to  Captain  Phillips  of  one 
of  the  Dundee  whalers  and  in  due  time  they  reached 
London.  When  forwarded  to  the  United  States,  the 
package  bore  the  date,  "  London,  December  7th,  1 892." 
1  he    letters    reached    their    destination   about    three 


SOME   OF   MY   DOGS. 


months  after  my  return  home.  One  of  them,  addressed 
to  "  The  Philadelphia  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences," 
was  as  follows : 


"  Red  Cliff  House,  Whale  Sound,  April  15,  1892. 

"  I  send   this  letter  by  an   Eskimo  returning  to  his  home  at 
Cape  York,  with  the  expectation  that  he  will  hand  it  to  the  cap- 


242        Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

tain  of  one  of  the  whalers.  Although  I  expect  to  be  liome  be- 
fore this  can  reach  you,  I  send  it  in  view  of  possible  contin- 
gencies. 

"  I  am  very  glad  to  say  that  the  programme  of  the  e.\[)edition 
has,  with  one  exception,  been  carried  out  to  the  letter  up  to  date. 
The  one  exception  is  the  failure,  after  two  attempts,  to  establish 
an  advance  depot  at  Humboldt  Glacier  last  fall. 

"  My  party  has  passed  through  the  ordeal  of  the  dark  night 
without  injury  and  is  now  in  good  condition.  I  have  a  com- 
plete equipment  for  the  Inland-Ice  trip,  obtained  ])artly  by  trade 
with  the  natives,  but  mostly  through  our  own  exertions.  My 
party  has  obtained  forty-one  reindeer,  eleven  walrus,  four  seals, 
one  oos^sook,  and  some  three  hundred  guillemots  and  little  auks 
to  date. 

"  The  friendliest  relations  liave  been  established  and  main- 
tained with  the  natives,  and  valuable  ethnological  material  ob- 
tained. 

"  .\  continuous  series  of  tidal  and  meteorological  observations 
have  been  taken. 

"  I  shall  start  for  the  south  side  of  the  Sound  Monday,  after 
additional  dogs,  and,  if  successful  in  obtaining  them  and  the  snow 
is  not  too  deep,  shall  make  the  round  of  Inglefield  Gulf,  return- 
ing in  time  to  start  on  the  Inland  Ice  May  ist. 

"  .\  large  portion  of  my  supplies  liave  alreadv  been  carried  up 
to  the  ice-cap  at  the  head  of  the  Bay. 

"The  winter  has  been  a  mild  one  and  marked  by  great  snow- 
fall. 

"  In  the  middle  of  February  a  furious,  two  days'  rain-storm  de- 
nuded portions  of  the  country  of  snow  and  threatened  Red  Cliff 
House  with  inundation.' 

"(.Sycz/'V),  R.  E.  Peary,  U.  S.  Xavy." 

'  By  a  singular  coincidence,  this  letter  and  a  personal  one  to  Gen.  I.  J.  W'istar, 
the  President  of  the  Academy,  thanking  him  for  his  powerful  assistance  in  obtain- 
ing leave  for  me  to  undertake  a  second  expedition,  were  both  read  at  the  same 
meeting  of  the  .Xcademy.  In  the  interim  between  the  letter  leaving  me,  tucked 
in  the  corner  of  Talakoteah's  sealskin  bag,  and  its  arrival  at  its  destination, 
I  had  made  my  trail  across  Greenland's  mighty  ice-boss,  to  within  eight  de- 
grees of  the  Pole,  had  returned  to  Red  Cliff,  had  steamed  from  tliere  south- 
ward some  three  thousand  miles,  had  had  a  two  months'  rest,  had  seen  that  the 
time  and  the  occasion  were  ripe  for  another  blow  at  the  \\'hite  North,  had, 
through  the  influence  of  Gen.  Wistar  and  powerful  friends,  olitained  the  neces- 
sary leave,  and  was  already  busy  with  preparations  for  the  next  trip. 


Preparing-  for  the  Ice-Cap  Campaign     243 

Easter  Sunday,  April  17th,  was  an  exquisite  day, 
but  a  busy  one,  for  we  had  many  preparations  to 
make  for  our  start  next  morninu'  on  the  sledsfe  iour- 
ney  around  Inglefield  Gulf,  which  Mrs.  Peary  and  I 
were  going  to  make. 

1  gave  Kyo  a  gun  and  sent  him  out  after  seal,  and 
he  soon  returned,  having  shot  the  first  seal  of  the 
season. 

I  now  had  fourteen  serviceable  dogs,  not  count- 
ing old  Frank,  and  this  meant  much  for  the  Inland- 
Ice  trip.  Everything  looked  bright  for  the  long 
journey  into  the  unknown,  towards  which  all  these 
months  of  work  and  waiting  had  constantly  tended  ; 
and  I  was  happ)'  in  the  thought  that  at  last  we  were 
on  the  very  threshold  of  the  undertaking  that  had 
brought  us  to  the  "White  North." 


'VvjXn^^J'-''' 


x.o. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

AROUND    INGLEFIELD    GULF    BY    SLEDGE. 

The  Start — Open  Water — A  Snow  Village — Old  Friends  and  New — 
A  Rich  Harvest  of  Seal — Sleepless  Night  in  a  Native  Igloo — Merk- 

TOSHAR,     THE    OnE-EYFD     BeAR-HUNTER    OF    NeTIULUME — PURCHASES     OF 

Dogs  and  Furs — Ittibloo  and  its  Glacier — My  Wolf  Team— Inaccu- 
racy OF  the  Charts — Remarkable  Panorama  of  Mountain  and  Glacier 
at  the  Head  of  the  Gulf — An  Involuntary  Bath — Home  again. 


0) 

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til 
O 
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01 

O 

S 


CHAPTER   IX. 


ARUUNU    INGLEFIELD    GULF    BV    SLEDGE. 


A 


FTER  three  weeks' 
postponement  of 
my  proposed  trip 
around  Whale  Sound  and 
Inglefield  Gulf,  due  first 
to  thick  weather  in  the 
latter  part  of  March,  then 
to  my  own  inopportune 
attack  of  the  grip,  the  ef- 
fects of  which  clung  to  me 
after  the  original  attack 
was  over,  and  succumbed 
finally  only  after  two  vigorous  tramps  to  Herbert 
Island  and  back  to  Red  Cliff,  I  at  last  got  under 
way  at  noon  on  Monday  after  Easter,  April  i8th.  The 
purpose  of  the  trip  was  threefold  ;  to  complete  the 
necessary  complement  of  dogs  for  the  ice-cap  march  ; 
to  purchase  furs  and  materials  for  our  equipment;  and 
as  far  as  practicable  map  the  shores  of  the  great  inlet. 
The  day  was  clear  and  bright,  with  a  mild  south-west- 
erly wind,  the  temperature  about  i  i°  above  zero.  The 
party  consisted  of  Mrs.  Peary,  Gibson,  Kyo  (Father 
Tom),  my  driver,  and  myself.  I  had  two  sledges  and 
ten  dogs.  The  supplies  for  a  week's  journey  about 
the  Gulf  and  sleeping-gear  and   miscellaneous  equip- 

247 


248       Northward  over  the  "  Great  Ice 


ment  were  packed  upon  the  larger  of  the  two  dog 
sledges  which  I  had  myself  built  at  Red  Cliff  during 
the  winter.     To  this  sledge  were  attached  seven  dogs, 

with  Kyo  as  driv- 
er, Mrs.  Peary and 
myself  tramping 
beside  or  in  the 
rear  of  the  sledge, 
as  fancy  or  the 
condition  of  the 
snow  dictated. 
Gibson  had  the 
second  sledge, 
which  was  like  the 
largre  one,  thougrh 
lighter  and  small- 
er, and  three  dogs 
for  his  team,  as  he 
had  practically  no 
load.  He  was  not 
to  make  the  en- 
tire round  of  the 
Gulf  with  us,  but 
simply  to  accom- 
pany us  as  far  as 
Keate,  where  I 
expected  to  pur- 
chase a  load  of 
walrus  meat  for 
my  dogs,  and  have 
him  take  it  back  to  Red  Cliff.  Panikpa,  with  his  wife 
Irkolinea  and  their  dwarf  child,  with  a  sledge  and  four 
dogs,  started  with  us,  intending  to  accompany  us  part 
way. 

As  we  passed  down  over  the  ice-foot  and  out  upon 
the  surface  of  the  Bay,  the  northern  shores  of  Herbert 


^^^^^^^^^^^^MH  ^ 

t 

%f^mS 

Hi, 

% 

hr'..'  '"^■"■^1^ 

r   ^ 

'i 

•*.- 

'  "-^V  ...'^Xj^B^ 

V                ■       .    ■:■'■::,.. :-<'Jii' 

'.^sIkI^-^:: 

k 

PANIKPA  AND   HIS  FAMILY. 


Around  Inglefield  Gulf  by  Sledge       249 

and  Northumberland  Islands  stood  out  sharp  and 
clear  against  the  blue  of  the  south-western  sky. 
Looking  south-west  to  Cape  Robertson  and  the 
distant  cliffs  of  Peterahwik  beyond,  I  was  reminded 
very  strongly  of  the  view  northward  along  the  w^est- 
ern  shore  of  Disco  Island  as  the  Kite  began  to  swing 
into  a  northerly  course  after  leaving  Godhavn.  Pass- 
ing  rapidly  along   the    now  well-beaten  h!ghwa\'    to 


AT  THE    SNOW  VILLAGE. 


Cape  Cleveland,  I  was  again  very  forcibly  impressed 
with  the  great  similarity  between  the  northern  shore 
of  Herbert  Island  and  the  south-eastern  shore  of 
McCormick  Bay,  and  the  sharply  marked  difference 
of  character  between  Herbert  and  Northumberland 
Islands.  Northumberland  is  evidently  a  part  of  the 
same  dark  granite  formation  that  walls  Robertson 
Bay  in  towering  grandeur,  while  Herbert  Island  is  a 
part  of  the  same  crumbling,  disintegrated  sandstone 
and  drift  formation  which  reaches  from  Cape  Cleve- 
land to  Bowdoin  Bay  in  Murchison  Sound. 


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Around  Inglefield  Gulf  by  Sledge       251 

At  Cape  Cleveland  we  separated,  Paiiikpa  with 
his  equipage  keeping  along  the  beaten  path  which 
wound  away  through  the  bergs  to  the  deserted  igloos 
of  Kiaktoksuami,  under  the  vertical  walls  of  the  east- 
ern end  of  Herbert  Island,  while  I,  with  the  rest  of 
the  party,  branched  out  on  a  new  road,  an  air-line 
for  the  channel  between  Herbert  and  Northumber- 
land Islands.  A  short  distance  away  from  Cape 
Cleveland  we  encountered  disagreeable  groinor  in  the 
shape  of  a  broad  zone  of  snow  with  underlying  water, 
caused,  undoubtedly,  by  the  overflow  from  the  tidal 
crack  stretching  from  Cape  Cleveland  in  the  direction 
of  Cape  Robertson.  After  the  first  few  steps  in  the 
freezing  slush,  Mrs.  Peary,  Gibson,  and  myself  slipped 
on  our  snow-shoes,  and  as  the  sledges  easily  kept 
upon  the  surface  of  the  snow,  this  threw  the  brunt 
of  the  disagreeable  situation  upon  Kyo  and  the  poor 
dogs,  who  struggled  and  floundered  through  the  arctic 
morass,  until  at  last  we  reached  dry  snow  beyond  it. 

After  this  the  travelling  could  be  called  quite  fair, 
the  white  e.xpanse  of  the  frozen  Sound  stretching 
smoothly  eastward  into  the  recesses  of  Inglefield  Gulf. 
Arriving  at  the  western  end  of  Herbert  Island,  seven 
hours  from  Cape  Cleveland,  I  found  a  decidedly  search- 
ing wind  drawing  through  the  narrow  pass. 

Stopping  here  for  a  few  bearings,  I  had  a  good 
opportunity  to  observe  the  inaccuracies  of  all  the 
charts  in  regard  to  this  region.  The  charts  place 
Hakluyt  Island  to  the  south  of  the  western  point  of 
Northumberland  Island,  when,  in  reality,  the  island 
is  open  past  the  northern  shore  of  Northumljerland 
to  an  observer  on  the  western  end  of  Herbert. 

At  this  point  we  came  upon  sledge  tracks,  and  fol- 
lowing them  they  led  us  across  the  channel  towards 
the  eastern  end  of  Northumberland  Island.  As  we 
neared  the  shore  of  Northumberland,  the  sledge  tracks 


25^        Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

became  more  numerous,  and  then  we  came,  much  to 
my  surprise,  upon  an  opening  in  the  ice,  perhaps  two 
hundred  yards  wide,  across  which  the  blaclc  water  was 
boihng  swiftly,  though  not  so  swiftly  as  to  prevent 
the  playful  gambols  of  several  seals,  that  kept  bobbing 
their  heads  up  and  treading  water  to  have  a  good 
look  at  us. 

The  reason  for  all  the  sledge  tracks  was  now  evi- 


INHABITANTS  OF  THE  SNOW  VILLAGE. 

dent.  Kyo  was  at  once  all  excitement,  and  begged 
for  my  rifle  to  shoot  a  seal.  He  crept  to  the  edge  of 
the  hole  and  then  lay  flat  upon  the  ice,  but  with  the 
peculiar  Eskimo  disinclination  to  waste  a  priceless 
bullet  unless  absolutely  sure  of  the  game,  he  waited 
and  waited,  throwing  away  chances  that  any  other 
than  an  Eskimo  hunter  would  take,  until  at  last  my 
patience  was  exhausted,  and  calling  him  back  we  re- 
sumed our  journey.  The  presence  of  this  pool  of 
water  would  seem  to  lend  colour  to  the  statement  ap- 


Around  Inglefield  Gulf  by  Sledge      253 

pearing  upon  some  charts,  that  there  is  open  water  in 
this  channel  throughout  the  year. 

After  leaving  the  open  water,  we  found  the  surface 
very  firm,  the  wind,  which  is  always  whistling  through 
this  narrow  channel,  having  packed  the  snow  or  swept 
it  away.     So  we  were  all  able  to  ride  upon  the  sledge. 

We  had  been  going  on  merrily  in  this  way  for  some 
time  when,  as  we  neared  the  sharp  point  of  rocks  at 


NETIULUME. 


the  south-eastern  extremity  of  Northumberland  Isl- 
and, my  team  suddenly,  without  a  movement  of  the 
whip,  broke  into  a  wild  gallop  and  chorus  of  yells,  and 
before  Mrs.  Peary  and  myself  could  recover  from  our 
astonishment,  they  had  whirled  us  round  the  rocks, 
and  dashed  us  up  to  the  ice-foot  in  front  of  an  Eskimo 
snow  village. 

By  the  time  we  could  step  off  the  sledge  we  were 


254       Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

surrounded  by  the  inhabitants,  among  whom  we  found 
several  of  our  winter  visitors  from  Cape  York,  also 
Ikwa  and  his  family,  and  several  natives  whom  we 
had  not  before  seen.  They  had  been  attracted  here 
by  the  open  water  and  the  seals,  and  the  numbers  of 
frozen  seals  lying  about  the  houses  and  on  the  ice- 
foot showed  that  they  were  reaping  a  plentiful  harvest. 
It  was  ten  o'clock  when  we  reached  this  village,  and 
though  still  daylight,  a  fierce  wind  was  sweeping  down 
Whale  Sound,  whistling  about  the  cliffs  and  gathering 
its  forces  for  the  approaching  midnight. 

Tahtahrah  (the  kittiwake  gull),  rather  a  pleasant- 
faced  young  fellow,  who  had  been  at  Red  Cliff  dur- 
ing the  winter,  and  who  was  now  living  here  with 
his  wife,  father  and  mother,  brother  and  brother's 
wife,  placed  his  snow  igloo,  the  largest  one  in  the 
village,  at  the  disposal  of  the  kapitansoak  and  his 
koonak  (wife),  and  the  increasing  violence  of  the 
wind  made  us  glad  to  accept  the  proffered  hospitality. 

Our  rest  in  this  igloo,  however,  was  neither  sound 
nor  refreshing.  Mrs.  Peary  experienced  constant  and 
flagrant  offence  to  every  known  and  unknown  sense, 
while  I  was  still  uncertain  and  a  little  distrustful  of 
the  natives  in  connection  with  my  dogs,  remembering 
my  experience  of  the  previous  fall,  when  after  pur- 
chasing dogs  I  loaned  them  to  their  original  owner 
for  a  day  and  never  saw  them  again.  Consequently 
I  was  keenly  alive  to  every  sound  from  my  team  teth- 
ered out  on  the  ice-foot,  and  frequently  found  excuses 
to  cTo  outside  and  see  that  the  dogs  were  all  x'wAw. 

When  the  sun  rose  above  the  cliffs  from  his  short 
midnight  dip.  Whale  Sound,  between  us  and  Netiu- 
lume,  on  the  mainland  across  the  Sound,  was  a  whirl- 
ing mass  of  golden  spray.  The  flying  snow  of  the  in- 
terior ice-cap  swept  down  over  the  great  glaciers  at  the 
head  of  Ingleheld  Gulf,  then  through  Whale  Sound, 


Around  Inglefield  Gulf  by  Sledge       255 

and  passed  us,  to  be  deposited  at  last  out  in  the  open 
North  Water.  Even  the  Eskimos  shook  their  heads 
dubiously  about  going  out  in  this  blinding  drift,  and 
as  we  were  not  obliged  to  hurry,  I  waited  at  this  village 
until  ten  a.m.,  when  the  wind  subsided,  and  we  started 
westward  along  the  south  shore  of  Northumberland 
Island,  for  the  permanent  settlement  of  Keate,  about 
five  miles  distant.  We  were  accompanied  on  this 
march  by  every  man,  woman,  and  child  in  the  snow 


KEATE  PEOPLE. 


village  that  was  able  to  walk,  and  as  we  moved  along 
with  the  men  beside  or  close  behind  our  sledge,  the 
women  behind  them,  and  the  old  men  and  children 
straeeline  alone  in  the  rear,  I  could  think  of  nothing 
but  a  circus  being  escorted  out  of  a  country  town  by 
its  admirers. 

At  Keate  we  found  Ahngodoblaho,  or  "the  dog 
man,"  as  we  called  him,  because  we  had  first  known  him 
as  the  proud  possessor  of  three  magnificent  Eskimo 


256       Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

dogs,  trained  to  fight  the  polar  bear,  quick  and  power- 
ful as  wolves,  yet  apparently  willing  to  be  friendly. 
Here  also  we  found  Mahotia,  or  the  "Comedian,"  as 
he  had  been  nicknamed.  These  two  men,  with  their 
families,  were  domiciled  in  stone  and  turf  igloos, 
banked  in  now  with  snow,  and  still  further  protected 
by  long,  narrow,  snow  entrances,  the  houses  built  upon 
a  little  gently  sloping  plateau,  a  hundred  feet  or  so 
above  high-water  line  and  beside  a  fair-sized  glacier. 


THE  POPULATION  OF  NETIULUME. 

Presents  of  smoked-glass  goggles  to  the  men, 
needles  to  the  women,  and  biscuits  all  round  to  the 
numerous  children,  put  our  relations  with  the  natives 
upon  the  most  amicable  basis,  and  in  a  very  short 
time  I  had  purchased  the  three  fine  bear-dogs  from 
Ahngodoblaho,  and  a  generous  load  of  walrus  meat 
for  my  dogs  from  the  "Comedian."  Within  an  hour 
after  we  had  touched  the  ice-foot  at  Keate,  Kyo's  whip 
was  cracking  merrily  as  we  dashed  rapidly  southward 
across  the  frozen  surface  of  Whale  Sound  on  a  bee- 


Around  Inglefield  Gulf  by  Sledge       257 

line  for  Netiulume,  faithful  Ikwa,  with  a  scrub  team 
of  young  dogs,  following  us  ;  while  Gibson,  with  his 
load  of  meat,  and  the  rest  of  the  natives,  went  back  to 
the  snow  village  on  his  way  to  Red  Cliff.  Four  hours 
and  a  half  later  we  dashed  at  the  ice-foot  in  Barden 
Bay,  above  which  are  the  houses  of  Netiulume. 

Our  coming  had  been  seen  by  the  sharp  eyes  of  the 
natives  long  before  we  arrived,  and  everyone  was  out 
ready  to  greet  us.  We  found  here  some  forty-odd 
natives,  comprising,  in  addition  to  the  regular  inhabit- 
ants of  the  place,  some  who  had  come  up  from  Cape 
York,  and  were  on  their  way  to  Red  Cliff  House,  and 
some  who  had  been  at  Red  Cliff  and  were  now  rest- 
ing here  on  their  way  south.  Among  these  were 
Talakoteah,  my 
mail  carrier,  Kes- 
suh,  the  Cape- 
York  dude,  the 
widow  and  her 
swain,  and  Ahhe- 
yu  with  his  little 
wife.  Here,  too, 
we  found  quaint 
old  Arrotoksoah, 
or  "  H  orace  Gree- 
ley," and  his  wife, 
"  Sairey  Gamp." 

Most  interest- 
ing to  me  of  all 
these  natives  was 
Merktoshar,  the 
one-eyed      bear 

hunter,  of  whose  merktoshar. 

exploits   every 

native  visiting  Red  Cliff  had  had  something  to  say. 
And   yet,   though    Merktoshar   had   an   old   rifle,   for 


258       Northward  over  the  "  Great  Ice  " 

which,  of  course,  he  must  want  ammunition,  and 
though  he  Uved  but  a  day's  sledge  ride  from  Red 
Chff  House,  he  had  never  been  to  our  home,  and 
had  never  sent  any  message  in  regard  to  trading 
for  ammunition.  I  was  curious  to  see  the  man  and 
find  out  whether  he  considered  the  white  man  an 
interloper,  or  whether  he  himself  was  too  inde- 
pendent to  call  upon  him.  I  found  him  extremely 
inoffensive  in  appearance,  with  his  long  black  hair 
straggling  in  disorder  over  his  one  eye.  I  was  soon 
on  the  best  of  terms  with  him,  and  had  no  trouble  in 
negotiating  for  the  two  best  dogs  in  his  famous  bear- 
pack.  Merktoshar  was  actually  stupid  in  appearance, 
and  moved  as  if  half  asleep,  and  I  made  up  my  mind 
that  his  prowess  had  been  very  much  overrated  b\-  his 
comrades  in  the  tribe,  and  laid  the  fact  of  his  not  hav- 
ing come  to  Red  Cliff  House  to  inherent  laziness. 
Later  I  knew  him  better,  and  found  that  that  one  eye 
of  his,  behind  its  veil  of  black  hair,  saw  as  much  as 
any  other  two  eyes  in  the  tribe  ;  and  when  I  saw  that 
same  eye  snap  and  glitter,  and  every  nerve  and  fibre 
in  his  frame  flash  into  quivering  yet  restrained  excite- 
ment, at  the  sound  of  a  singing  harpoon  line,  with  a 
huge  walrus  struggling  to  get  free,  I  easily  imagined 
him  in  a  hand-to-hand  struggle  with  his  favourite 
game,  the  polar  bear,  the  "  tiger  of  the  North." 

Two  hours  and  a  half  at  Netiulume,  only  long 
enough  for  supper,  and  then  we  swung  out  upon  the 
ice  of  the  Sound  again,  and  started  on  a  trot  east- 
ward for  Ittibloo,  with  Merktoshar's  two  dogs  snarl- 
ing and  snapping  like  untamed  wolves  at  one  side  of 
the  team,  and  white  Lion  taking  every  opportunity 
to  attack  them  and  assert  his  supremacy  as  king  of  the 
team. 

We  passed  a  striking  trap  monument  just  east  of 
Netiulume,  and  then  glacier  after  glacier,  until,  at  two 


Around  Inglefield  Gulf  by  Sledge       259 

o'clock  in  the  morning,  we  reached  Ittibloo,  situated 
upon  a  point  jutting  out  from  the  south  shore  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Olriks  Bay.  Ittibloo  is  confounded  on 
some  charts,  as,  for  instance,  the  Arctic  chart  of  the 
United  States  Hydrographic  Office,  with  Netiulume, 
or  Netlik,  as  it  is  called  on  some  maps,  the  Eskimo  vil- 
lage in  Barden  Bay.  At  one  time,  Ittibloo  was  quite 
a  settlement,    there    being    six    stone    igloos    on    the 


PANIKPA'S  IGLOO. 

Type  of  Permanent  Winter  Habitation. 

point,  and  a  very  considerable  burial-place.  At  the 
time  of  our  visit,  however,  but  one  of  these  igloos 
was  inhabited,  and  this  afforded  shelter  to  its  owner, 
Panikpa,  and  his  wife,  Irkolinea,  with  their  one 
child,  and  Panikpa's  father,  Komonahpik,  with  his 
third  wife,  Nooyahleah,  and  a  young  son  of  Tahwa- 
na,  the  Eskimo  living  at  the  head  of  the  Gulf.  The 
last  three  w^ere  visitors.  Having  been  sixteen  hours 
on  the   march,  and  having  had  no  rest  to  speak  of 


26o       Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 


the  previous  night,  we  were,  as  can  easily  be  im- 
agined, good  and  ready  for  sleep.  But  even  under 
these  circumstances  the  proffered  hospitality  of  Pa- 
nikpa's  igloo  had  no  charms  for  us,  and  with  the 
assistance  of  Kyo  and  old  Komonahpik,  I  half  built, 
half  excavated,  a  small  igloo  in  the  deep  snow  just 

abovethe  ice-foot, 
and  we  placed  our 
sleeping-bags  in 
it  and  turned  in. 
After  a  good 
rest  in  this  igloo 
we  turned  out, 
and  after  break- 
fast climbed  to 
higher  ground, 
which  enabled  me 
to  get  a  good  view 
into  Olriks  Bay. 
Here  I  set  up  my 
transit,  and  took 
a  round  of  bear- 
inors  and  angrles. 
This  work  com- 
jfleted,  I  made  a 
brief  reconnais- 
sance of  the 
neighbourhood 
and  of  the  Itti- 
bloo  Glacier, 
which  comes 
down  through  a 
narrow,  vertically 
walled  gorge  in  the  mountains,  just  west  of  the  village, 
then  expands  into  a  broad,  fan-shaped  extremity  con- 
fined by  a  continuous  terminal  moraine. 


KIRSIRVIARSU. 


Around  Inglefield  Gulf  by  Sledge      261 

My  reconnaissance  was  not  an  extended  one,  owing 
to  the  extremely  difficult  character  of  the  travelling. 
The  furious  fohn  of  the  middle  of  February,  with  its 
burden  of  sleet  and  rain,  as  it  descended  over  the 
southern  cliffs  of  Whale  Sound,  had  fallen  with  un- 
restrained fury  upon  the  Ittibloo  shore,  had  scoured 
every  bit  of  snow  from  the  land,  and  had  left  the  rocks 
covered  with  a  thick  coating  of  ice,  which  seemed 
almost  as  if  it  had  been  fused  to  them,  so  firmly  was 


^ 

'W^ 

-i- 

•;v  V* 

,  ■'-•&• 

V' 

^5- .  ^  , 

.  •*«' 

* 

<  0            S" 

v^: 

V 

''i&... 

i»JG.i.^', 


MY  SLEEPING  TEAM. 

it  attached.  This  fact  and  the  extremely  rough  nature 
of  the  region  made  travelling  a  constant  menace  to 
feet  and  limbs. 

At  eight  o'clock  in  the  evening  we  were  again 
under  way,  having  added  to  my  team  four  additional 
dogs  which  I  obtained  from  Panikpa.  One  of  these, 
I  soon  found,  was  in  the  advanced  stages  of  the  dog 
disease,  and  it  was  detached  from  the  sledge  and  left 
behind  before  we  had  gone  a  hundred  yards.  This 
left  me  a  team  of  twelve,  and  it  was  worth  a  long 


262       Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

journey  to  see  those  twelve  magnificent  beauties,  with 
heads  and  tails  in  the  air,  dash  out  upon  the  wind- 
hardened  surface  of  the  Sound  in  their  long,  wolfish 
gallop,  a  veritable  pack  of  w^olves  in  full  cry  after  a 
deer. 

Rapidly  we  dashed  away  across  the  mouth  of  Olriks 
Bay  for  the  bold  bluffs  opposite,  and  I  cast  frequent 
and  longing  glances  up  the  unknown  recesses  of  that 
arctic  fjord.  Never  had  old  Norse  saga  greater  at- 
tractions for  me  as  a  boy  than  have  these  magnificent 
Greenland  fjords,  winding  between  black  clifts,  re- 
ceiving from  every  side  the  white  tribute  of  the  gla- 
ciers, and  ending  at  last  against  the  sapphire  wall  of 
some  mighty  torrent  from  the  interior  ice-cap,  a  torrent 
which  no  eyes  but  those  of  the  reindeer  and  the 
arctic  falcon  have  ever  seen.  Never  have  I  passed 
the  mouth  of  one  of  these  fjords  but  that,  without 
volition  on  my  part,  the  determination  has  been  re- 
corded to  penetrate  its  farthest  recesses.  But  time 
was  lacking  now,  and  I  was  obliged  to  keep  on. 

After  crossing  the  mouth  of  Olriks  Bay,  we  kept 
along  near  the  shore,  finding  very  good  travelling, 
until  about  three  o'clock  in  the  morning,  when  just 
as  we  rounded  the  face  of  the  only  glacier  on  the 
south  side  of  Inglefield  Gulf,  between  Olriks  and  Acad- 
eni)'  Bays,  we  came  upon  a  temporary  snow  igloo,  which 
we  found  to  be  occupied  by  Tahwana,  with  his  ipjtn- 
gah  (companion)  Kudlah  and  their  families.  These 
Eskimos  had  left  their  common  igloo  at  the  head  of 
the  Gulf,  and  were  on  their  way  to  Red  Cliff,  and  it 
being  now  the  season  of  the  year  when  the  seals  bring 
forth  their  young  in  their  snow  houses  near  the  ice- 
bergs, they  were  travelling  leisurely,  and  living  upon 
the  fat  of  the  land  in  the  shape  of  both  young  and 
old  seals,  which  they  surprised  in  their  retreats. 

Stopping  here  just  long  enough  to  acquaint  the  two 


Around  Inglefield  Gulf  by  Sledge       263 

men  with  the  fact  that  I  wished  to  purchase  from  them 
such  material  for  clothing  as  they  might  have,  we  kept 
on  our  course  to  the  head  of  the  Gulf,  the  two  men 
accompanying  us,  running  alternately  behind  and 
alongside  of  tlie  sledge.  All  the  way  up  to  this  point 
from  Ittibloo,  I  had  laeen  able  to  look  directly  into  a 
very  considerable  bay  on  the  north  side  of  the  Gulf,  a 
bay  extending  about  due  north  to  the  ice-cap,  where 
it  ended  at  two  or  three  great  glaciers,   separated 


LION  ISLANDS. 
Looking  from  Nunatoksoah. 

by  black  nunataks.  This  was  evidently  the  bay 
wliich  Astriip,  in  his  ice-cap  reconnaissance  during 
August,  had  reported  as  cutting  across  his  path,  and 
which  he  and  Gibson  had  reported  as  having  seen, 
during  their  September  and  October  ice-cap  journeys, 
extending  from  near  the  head  of  Tooktoo  Valley 
southward  to  Whale  Sound.  Now,  as  we  proceeded 
up  the  Sound  from  Tahwana's  temporary  igloo,  the 
panorama  of  Inglefield  Gulf  began  to  open  out  before 
me,  and  I  recognised  as  a  certainty  what  I  had  for 
some  time  surmised,  that  such  maps  as    we   have  of 


264       Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 


Inglefield  Gulf  and  the  upper  portion  of  Whale  Sound 
have  been  drawn  entirely  from  the  reports  of  the 
natives,  and  that  no  explorer's  eye  has  seen  this 
region  beyond  the  range  of  vision  from  the  eastern 
end  of  Herbert  Island. 

About  six  o'clock  in  the  morning,  we  reached 
Academy  Bay,  and  starting  across  it  for  the  point  on 
the  opposite  side  where  we  were  told  Tahwana's 
igloo  was  situated,  we  reached,  a  short  distance  out 

in  the  Bay,  a  little 
gneissose  island. 
As  we  had  been 
travelling  now 
nearly  twelve 
hours,  I  decided 
to  make  our  next 
bivouac  here, 
which  we  pro- 
ceeded to  do  by 
spreading  our 
sleeping-  bags 
upon  a  sheltered 
ledge  at  the  foot 
of  a  vertical  rock 
face  exposed  to 
the  sun.  Awak- 
ing several  hours 
later  rested  and 
refreshed,  we  ate 
our  breakfast 
and  then  climbed 
to  the  summit  of 
the  island,  where 
I  set  up  mj'  tran- 
sit, and  took  a  complete  round  of  angles  and  a  continu- 
ous series  of  photographic  views.      From  this   little 


ROCK  STRATIFICATION. 

North  Side  of  Little  Matterhorn. 


Around  Inglefield  Gulf  by  Sledge       265 

island,  which  I  named  Ptarmigan,  from  the  numerous 
tracks  upon  it,  our  course  lay  straight  across  the  mouth 
of  the  Bay  to  Tahwana's  igloo.  Arriving  here,  I  made 
no  stop  except  to  unload  my  sledge,  and  then,  with  Kud- 
lah  for  driver,  kept  straight  up  the  Gulf  eastward  for  the 
great  glacier,  whose  gleaming  face  we  could  distinctly 
see  from  the  igloo.  It  was  just  after  midnight  when  we 
left  Tahwana's,  and  we  found  the  snow  much  deeper 
and  softer  beyond  here,  and  the  travelling  was  conse- 


FACE  OF  HEILPRIN  GLACIER. 


quently  more  laborious.  Two  or  three  miles  before 
reaching  the  glacier  itself,  we  passed  a  small  island  of 
rock,  which,  seen  from  the  west,  is  such  a  perfect  coun- 
terpart, on  a  small  scale,  of  the  Matterhorn,  that  I 
named  it  at  once  the  Little  IMatterhorn.  My  objective 
point  was  one  of  the  rocky  islands,  half  buried  in  the 
face  of  the  glacier,  and  probably  destined  soon  to  be- 
come a  nunatak.  Reaching  the  shore  of  this  island  and 
telling  Kudlah  to  look  out  for  the  dogs  and  sledge,  Mrs. 


266       Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

Peary  and  I  put  on  our  snow-shoes  and  climbed  to  the 
summit,  over  the  rough  roclcs  and  across  the  deep  drifts 
of  snow.  From  this  point  we  commanded  the  entire 
width  of  the  great  glacier,  from  the  main  shore  of  the 
Gulf  to  the  south,  and  comparatively  near  us,  north- 
ward to  the  distant  Smithson   Mountains. 

An  archipelago  of  small  islands  here  is  evidently  a 
serious  obstacle  to  the  great  glacier,  and  has  resulted 
in  deflecting  the  ice-stream  north-westward,  so  that 
practically  its  entire  outflow  is  north  of  the  islands 
and  between  them  and  the  Smithson  Mountains.  It 
is  a  mighty  ice-stream,  e.xceeding  in  size  the  glaciers 
of  Jacobshavn,  Tossukatek,  or  Great  Kariak,  and  I 
christened  it  the  Heilprin  Glacier. 

I  was  an.xious  to  get  northward  into  the  north-east- 
ern angle  of  the  Gulf,  and  on  descending  to  the 
sledge  told  Kudlah  to  drive  in  that  direction.  He 
said  it  would  be  very  difficult  and  slow  travelling,  as 
the  snow  was  always  deep  over  there,  and  the  sharp 
blocks  of  ice  were  troublesome.  However,  as  I  in- 
sisted on  going,  he  cracked  his  whip  and  started  the 
team  in  the  desired  direction.  It  was  not  long,  how- 
ever, before  I  found  that  Kudlah  was  right.  As  we 
got  away  from  the  south  shore  of  the  Gulf,  I  found 
the  snow  increasing  in  depth  and  lightness,  and  the 
sharp  fragments  of  ice  from  the  glacier,  which  had 
been  cautjht  in  the  new  ice  when  it  formed,  and  which 
we  now  found  thickly  scattered  along  our  course, 
their  sharp  edges  completely  hidden  beneath  the  soft 
snow,  threatened  almost  constantly  the  destruction 
of  my  sledge  runners.  Under  these  circumstances  I 
was  constrained  to  halt  at  the  most  northerly  island 
of  the  group,  and  while  Mrs.  Peary  curled  herself  on 
the  sledge  in  the  sun  for  a  nap,  Kudlah  and  myself 
climbed  to  the  summit  of  the  island  for  another 
round  of  bearings. 


Around  Inglefield  Gulf  by  Sledge       267 

On  this  island  we  found  deer  tracks  so  fresh  that  I 
have  no  doubt  one  or  two  of  the  animals  were  on  the 
island  at  the  time  of  our  visit  ;  but  I  had  no  time  to 
chase  them,  and,  descending  to  the  sledge,  we  started 
back  for  Tahwana's  ieloo,  and  reached  it  atrain  after 
an  absence  of  ten  hours. 

Again  we  resisted  the  seductive  luxury  of  a  native 
igloo,  and  spread  our  bags  upon  the  bay  ice  on  the 


TAHWANA  AND   HIS  FAMILY. 


sunny  side  of  the  ice-foot  ;  but,  as  it  was  our  first,  I 
think  it  will  be  our  last  selection  of  such  a  place  for  a 
camp.  After  sleeping  I  know  not  how  long,  I  was 
awakened  by  unpleasant  sensations,  and  found  my 
sleeping-bag  full  of  water,  and  the  site  of  our  camp 
transformed  into  a  pool  of  semi-liquid  slush,  caused 
by  the  overflow  of  the  rising  tide  through  a  crack  in 
the   ice-foot  near  us.      Jumping  out  of    my  bag   with 


268        Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

the  utmost  celerity,  I  found  that  Mrs.  Peary's  head 
and  the  mouth  of  her  bag  were  just  on  the  shore  of 
the  httle  pond,  and  the  water  had  evidently  as  yet 
neither  reached  the  mouth  of  her  bag  nor  soaked 
through  the  bag  itself,  for  she  was  still  calmly  sleep- 
ing. Knowing  that  any  movement  on  her  part  would 
be  likely  to  let  the  water  into  her  bag,  I  seized  her, 
bag  and  all,  and  stood  her  on  end,  in  the  same  irrever- 


FACE  OF   HURLBUT  GLACIER. 


ent  manner  that  a  miller  ends  up  a  bag  of  meal ; 
then,  before  she  was  fairly  awake,  she  was  carried  out 
of  the  water,  and  deposited  upon  the  dry  snow. 

This  experience  was  a  very  emphatic  illustration 
of  the  serious  discomfort  and  inconvenience  to  Arctic 
travellers  resulting  from  getting  their  equipment  wet. 
My  sleeping-bag  and  some  few  articles  of  clothing 
that  did  not  escape  the  inundation  were  not  thoroughly 


Around  Inglefield  Gulf  by  Sledge.       269 

dried  until  after  we  reached  Red  Cliff,  three  days 
later.  W^hile  Mrs.  Peary,  now  thoroughly  awakened, 
beat  and  scraped  as  much  of  the  frozen  slush  from 
our  furs  as  she  could,  and  then  spread  them  out  to  get 
all  possible  benefit  from  the  sun's  rays,  I  looked  over 
the  sealskins  and  other  articles  that  Tahwana  was 
willing  to  let  me  have,  and  soon  effected  a  trade,  as 
the  result  of  which  he  became  the  happy  possessor  of 
a  long-coveted  saw,  a  hunting  knife,  a  hatchet,  and 
several  minor  articles. 

After  completing  the  trade  and  loading  my  pur- 
chases upon  the  sledge,  with  a  number  of  young  seals, 
we  started  on  our  return  down  the  Gulf. 

Crossing  the  mouth  of  Academy  Bay  from  Tahwa- 
na's  igloo,  we  stopped  again  at  Ptarmigan  Island 
and  I  climbed  once  more  to  the  summit  to  fix  pre- 
cisely the  bearing  of  one  or  two  points  across  the  head 
of  the  Gulf.  Returning  to  the  sledge,  I  was  fortunate 
in  securing  two  of  the  beautiful  white  birds  after 
which  I  had  named  the  island.  Perfectly  white,  and 
strutting  about  the  little  rock  with  slow  steps  and 
erect  heads,  they  acted  as  if  they  were  indeed  the 
Lords  of  the  Isle.  From  Ptarmigan  Island  down  the 
Gulf  our  progress  was  rather  slower  than  during  our 
upward  journey,  as  ni)'  sledge  was  piled  high  with 
seals  and  sealskins  obtained  from  Tahwana. 

We  did  not  stop  until  we  reached  the  temporary 
snow  iofloo  at  which  we  had  first  found  Tahwana. 
Here  the  dogs  were  unfastened  from  the  sledge  and 
we  made  preparations  for  our  bivouac.  The  weather 
still  being  perfect,  as  it  had  been  throughout  our 
entire  journey,  I  simply  excavated  a  rectangular  pit 
in  a  convenient  snow-drift  with  a  wall  of  snow-blockL 
ranged  across  the  windward  end  and  part  way  down 
two  sides  as  a  wind  guard.  Here,  after  our  evening 
cup  of  tea  was  made,  we  turned  in  in  our  sleeping-bags 


270       Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

and  had  the  most  enjoyable  and  in  fact  the  only  un- 
interrupted sleep  during  our  entire  journey. 

Rising  rested  and  refreshed  as  the  sun  rolled 
round  into  the  west,  I  started  with  Mrs.  Peary  and 
the  twelve-year-old  Eskimo  boy  Sipsu  for  an  examina- 
tion of  the  glacier  near  us.  Scaling  the  seaward  end 
of  its  eastern  lateral  moraine,  we  reached  the  sharp 
ridge  of  the  moraine  and  then  climbed  up  its  rapidly 


GORGE  OF  HURLBUT  GLACIER. 


ascending-  aradient  towards  the  narrow  gforcre  in  the 
cliffs  through  which  the  glacier  forced  its  way  from 
the  interior  ice-cap. 

This  glacier,  which  I  christened  Hurlbut  Glacier, 
though  not  of  the  first  magnitude,  was  particularly  in- 
teresting from  the  almost  liquid  manner  in  which  the 
ice  seemed  to  hurl  itself  through  the  gateway  of  the 
gorge.     Several  photographs  of  the  glacier  did  not 


Around  Inglefield  Gulf  by  Sledge       271 

prove  as  effective  as  the  actual  view,  owing  to  the 
deep  covering  of  snow,  which  hid  the  Hnes  of  demark- 
ation  between  the  ice  and  the  rocks. 

While  we  were  making  this  reconnaissance  of  the 
glacier,  one  of  the  peculiar  frost  showers  of  the  arctic 
spring  came  sweeping  up  the  gulf  from  Herbert  Isl- 
and, in  the  shape  of  a  blinding  white  wall,  which  hid 
everything  that  it  passed  over.  As  it  reached  us, 
the  sun  was  surrounded  by  a  prismatic  halo,  and  the 
minutest  needle-like  crystals  of  frost  fell  lazily  through 
the  air.  This  shower  passed  almost  as  rapidly  as  it 
had  come  up,  only  to  be  followed  by  others  which  swept 
up  the  Gulf,  obliterating,  as  they  passed,  the  northern 
shore,  even  as  summer  showers  alternately  hide  and 
reveal  the  opposite  shore  of  a  broad  river. 

In  the  midst  of  these  showers  we  got  under  way  and 
continued  down  the  Gulf,  saying  good-bye  to  Tah- 
wana  and  his  family,  who,  however,  were  already 
breaking  camp  and  packing  their  sledge  to  follow  us. 
Without  dogs,  however,  and  encumbered  by  women 
and  children,  their  progress  would  be  slow  as  com- 
pared with  that  of  the  kapitaiisoak  with  his  team  of 
twelve  magnificent  doirs.  I  should  be  at  Red  Cliff 
in  two  marches,  while  they  expected  to  be  five  or  six 
days  on  the  way. 

Keeping  eastward  close  by  the  shore  for  several 
miles  from  the  snow  igloo,  we  then  left  the  now 
southerly  trending  shore  and  struck  out  as  the  crow 
flies  down  the  centre  of  the  Gulf  for  the  eastern  end 
of  Herbert  Island,  rising  far  westward  above  the 
white  expanse,  like  the  bastion  of  some  great  red 
fortress.  It  was  a  long  and  tedious  pull  for  my  dogs, 
as  the  snow  in  many  places  was  quite  deep  and  had 
not  been  sufficiently  wind-beaten  to  support  them. 
Still  they  kept  bravely  to  their  work,  though  nothing 
is  more  disagreeable  to  the  Eskimo  dog  than  a  slow. 


272       Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 


steady  drag.  In  the  forenoon  of  the  next  day,  we 
reached  the  ice-foot,  in  front  of  the  deserted  igloos, 
on  the  easternmost  point  of  Herbert  Island.  Un- 
fastening the  dogs  and  giving  them  their  dinner, 
we  then  prepared  and  ate  our  own  ;  and  then  Kyo 
crept  into  one  of  the  igloos  and  curled  himself  up  for 
sleep,  while  Mrs.  Peary  and  myself  spread  a  few  seal- 


BACK  TO  RED  CLIFF. 


skins  upon  the  snow,  crept  into  our  sleeping-bags,  and 
went  to  sleep  in  the  sun.  Here,  after  some  four  hours' 
sleep,  we  were  joined  by  Tahtahrah  and  Koolooting- 
wah,  two  young  Eskimos,  who  had  come  out  from  Red 
Cliff  on  one  of  my  sledges,  with  one  of  my  Winches- 
ters and  their  own  dogs,  after  seals.  They  had  already 
obtained  two,  and  loading  these  upon  their  sledge 
they    started    off    over    the    now  well-travelled   road 


Around  Inglefield  Gulf  by  Sledge 


-  /  o 


to  Cape  Cleveland.  We  soon  followed  them,  and  a 
little  before  midnight  on  Sunday,  April  24th,  we  came 
dashing  over  the  ice-foot  in  front  of  Red  Cliff,  after  a 
sledge  journey  of  some  two  hundred  and  fifty  miles, 
and  an  absence  of  a  week  from  our  Greenland  home. 


CHAPTER  X. 

EQUIPMENT,    ROUTINE,    AND    BEGINNING    OF    THE    WHITE 

MARCH. 

At  Sea  as  to  Conditions  to  be  Encountered — Equipment — Dogs — 
Clothing — Provisions — Instruments— Routine  of  March — The  Start 
— Stormy  Weather — Incorrigible  Dogs — Sleepless  Work — My  Leg 
Troubles  me — Reach  Edge  of  True  Inland  Ice  at  Last — Over  the 
First  Divide — Into  the  Humboldt-Glacier  Basin — A  Storm — Camp 
Separation — Gibson  and  Dr.  Cook  Start  Back. 


CHAPTER  X. 


EQUIPMENT,    ROUTINE,    AND    BEGINNING   OF  THE    WHITE 

MARCH. 


M 


Y  equipment  for  the 
march  across  the 
Great  Ice  was  the 
resuk  of  continuous  study 
and  experiment  on  every 
detail  throughout  the 
winter. 

The  art  of  travelhng 
upon  the  Inland  Ice  was 
in  its  infancy  compared 
with  travel  over  the  sea 
ice  along  an  arctic  shore- 
line, and  the  journey  I  proposed  to  take  was  one  which, 
in  distance  traversed  without  caches  or  depots  of  sup- 
plies, was  unprecedented. 

Lio-htness  and  strength  were  the  two  prime  factors 
which  ruled  with  iron  hand  in  the  workmg  out  of 
every  detail,  because  for  every  ounce  of  weight  which 
could  be  saved  in  equipment,  an  ounce  of  food  could 
be  substituted,  and  on  an  arctic  sledge  journey  pounds 
of  food  and  miles  of  travel  are  practically  synony- 
mous. 

As  regarded  conditions  to  be  encountered,  I  was 
more  orless  in   the  dark  :  it  could  not  be  taken  for 


278       Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

granted  that  these  would  be  the  same  from  78°  N. 
Lat.  northward,  as  they  had  been  found  from  69°  N. 
Lat.  southward. 

As  to  the  probable  altitude  to  be  reached,  there 
was  nothing  to  guide  me.  It  might  not  be  over 
6000  feet  ;  it  might  be  15,000.  I  could  only  de- 
vise my  equipment  in  such  a  way  that  it  would 
meet,  as  far  as  possible,  every  contingency  and  every 
extreme. 


THE  START  FROM   RED  CLIFF. 


Both  Norwegian  ski  and  Indian  snow-shoes  were 
included  in  my  equipment,  as  each  has  its  advantages, 
and  under  the  varied  conditions  of  the  ice-cap  both 
are  needed.      I  did  not  take  a  tent. 

As  to  dogs,  I  started  from  Red  Clif?  with  twenty, 
but  one  was  already  in  the  grasp  of  the  fatal  piblockto 
and  died  at  the  edge  of  the  ice-cap.  Two  others 
died  at  the  first  camp  on  the  ice-cap,  and  two  days 
later  a  fourth  escaped  and  returned  to  the  house. 
Two  others  returned  with  the  supporting  party,  leav- 


The  White  March 


2/9 


ing  me  with  fourteen,  one  of  which  was  used  up  and 
died  at  the  next  camp,  so  that  I  reahy  left  the  sup- 
porting party  with  thirteen,  and  only  eight  of  these 
reached  Independence  Bay. 

On  the  return,  three  more  gave  out,  so  that  I  reached 
McCormick  Bay  with  five  left  out  of  the  original 
twenty. 

Of  this  original  twenty,  twelve  were  first-class  ani- 


Henson.     Cook.  Astriip. 


Gibson. 


THE  CAMP  ON  THE  BLUFFS. 


mals,  hardy  and  powerful,  trained  sledge-dogs  and 
bear  hunters,  the  others  bitches  and  inferior  dogs. 

Our  clothing  may  be  said  to  have  been  entirely  of 
fur,  a  light  suit  of  woollen  underclothing,  a  flannel 
shirt,  a  jersey,  and  light  woollen  socks  being  the  only 
articles  of  civilised   make. 

The  provisions  for  an  arctic  sledge  journey  must 
possess  the  important  desideratum  of  a  minimum 
weieht  and  bulk  for  a  eiven  nutritive  value. 


28o       Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

Pemmican  '  is  the  mainstay  of  a  sledge  ration. 
Next  in  order  of  importance  come  tea,  condensed 
milk,  biscuit,  compressed  pea  soup.  Other  articles  of 
which  small  quantities  were  carried,  simply  on  trial, 
were  experimental  pemmican  put  up  by  Parke,  Davis, 
&  Co.,  of  Detroit,  with  beef  meal  as  a  basis,  choco- 
late tablets,  composed  of  equal  parts  of  beef  meal, 
chocolate,  and  sugar,  also  prepared  by  Parke,  Davis, 
&  Co.,  and  Mosquera's  food. 

My  dog  food  consisted  of  pemmican,  eked  out  by 
those  of  their  number  that  we  killed,  and  a  bountiful 
feast  of  musk-ox  meat  at  Independence  Bay. 

My  instrumental  outfit  comprised  a  small  traveller's 
theodolite  by  Fauth  &  Co.,  of  Washington,  a  pocket 
sextant  an  artificial  horizon,  three  pocket  chrono- 
meters by  the  E.  Howard  Watch  Co.,  of  Boston, 
aneroids,  compasses,  odometers,'-  thermometers. 

My  photographic  outfit  consisted  of  two  No.  4 
kodaks  made  expressly  for  me  by  the  Eastman  Co., 
and  two  rolls  of  films,  one  hundred  negatives  each. 

My  medical  stores  were  very  modest  yet  sufficient. 
The  only  demands  upon  them  were  for  an  occasional 
opium  pellet  for  our  eyes. 

For  firearms  I  carried  a  Winchester,  'j2)  model,  44- 
calibre,  carbine  with  full  magazine,  and  one  box  of 
cartridges. 

The  routine  on  the  march  for  at  least  nine-tenths 
of  the  time  was  as  follows  :  As  soon  as  the  sledge  was 
lashed  in  the  morning,  the  dogs  attached  to  it,  our 

'  Pemmican  is  a  concentrated  meat  food,  composed  of  le.in  beef  dried  until 
friable,  then  ground  fine  and  mixed  with  beef  suet,  a  little  sugar,  and  a  few 
currants. 

''  Previous  to  this  expedition,  the  odometer  had  never  been  used  in  arctic  work. 
The  idea  of  its  use  in  ice-cap  work  occurred  to  nie  during  my  reconnaissance  in 
1886,  and  during  the  winter  at  Red  Cliff  two  or  three  light,  strong  wheels  had 
been  constructed  by  Astriip  and  myself,  after  my  designs.  For  the  ice-cap 
journey  one  of  these  wheels  was  fitted  in  a  light  frame  and  attached  to  the  rear 
of  the  sledge.     It  worked  well  and  proved  invaluable. 


The  White  March 


281 


snow-shoes  and  ski  strapped  on,  and  everything  in 
readiness  for  a  start,  I  stepped  out  to  the  front  with 
the  Httle  sillcen  guidon  my  wife  made  for  me  in  my 
hand,  and  took  the  proper  course,  while  Astriip 
tramped  along  beside  the  sledge,  keeping  each  dog 
up  to  his  work.  In  the  event  of  an  accident,  or 
trouble  with  the  dogrs,  we  both  worked  to  straighten 
things  out. 


reary. 


Cook.       Astriip.      Gibson. 


PACKING. 

We  had  to  get  into  harness  ourselves  and  help  the 
dogs  haul  almost  invariably  after  a  fresh  fall  of  snow, 
and  also  during  the  climb  up  the  slope  of  the  ice- 
cap, both  from  McCormick  Bay  and  Independence 
Bay.  At  these  times,  a  long  walrus-hide  line  was  run 
out  from  the  front  of  the  sledge  over  the  dogs,  so 
that  I  could  attach  it  to  my  shoulders  and  pull  while 
still  keeping  in  advance  of  the  team.  Astriip,  with  a 
short  line  attached  to  the  side  of  the  sledge,  was  able 


282        Northward  over  the  "  Great  Ice  " 

to  pull  and  at  the  same  time  attend  to  the  dogs. 
We  came  to  the  rescue  in  this  way  during  about  ten 
days  of  the  entire  trip.  When  camp  was  pitched,  the 
sledge  end  of  the  traces  was  unfastened  from  the 
sledge  and  then  tied  to  a  steel-pointed  alpenstock, 
driven  deeply  into  the  snow  just  beyond  reach  of  the 
camp  and  sledges. 

The  care  of  the  dogs — that  is,  detaching  them  from 
the  sledges  at  night,  making  them  fast  to  their  stakes, 


**  ■■■ 

UP  THE  RAVINE. 


feeding  them  once  a  day  at  the  conclusion  of  the 
march,  and  attaching  them  to  the  sledges  in  the 
morning — was  my  personal  charge.  When  the  march 
commenced,  the  dogs  were  in  Astriip's  charge  as 
driver  until  we  camped  at  night,  except  on  occasions 
when,  to  relieve  the  wearying  monotony,  we  alter- 
nated during  the  march,  first  one  and  then  the  other 
setting  the  course  and  driving  the  dogs.  Astriip  always 
built  the  snow  shelter,  or  kitchen,  as  we  called  it.    The 


The  White  March 


283 


duties  of  cook  were  taken  by  efcli  of  us  on  alternate 
days,  and  these  duties  covered  the  entire  time  at  a 
camp.  The  man  on  duty  as  cook  slept  in  the  kitchen 
and  was  always  prepared  to  turn  out  at  an  instant's 
notice  to  capture  any  dog  that  had  broken  loose. 
The  one  off  duty  slept  under  the  sledge  cover  in  the 
lee  of  the  sledge.  We  made  but  little  use  of  our 
sleeping-bags,   and  at  the  end  of  three  weeks  threw 


FIRST  IGLOO  ON  THE  ICE-CAP. 

Sun-Glacier  Gorge  in  Background. 

them  away.      It   is   perhaps   needless   to   say  we   did 
not  disrobe  on  retiring. 

Our  preparations  for  sleep  were  very  simple.  As 
soon  as  supper  was  disposed  of,  we  rubbed  our  faces 
with  vaseline  to  ease  the  intense  burning  from  the 
sun  and  wind,  applied  a  drop  of  opium  solution  to  our 
eyes  to  relieve  the  pain  from  the  blinding  snow-glare, 
tied  something  over  them  to  exclude  the  light,  closed 
all  openings  in  our  fur  clothing,  and  then  lay  down. 


284       Northward  over  the  "  Great  Ice  " 

Invariably  in  the  n|orning  we  found  the  dogs  in  a 
sorry  tangle,  and  some  time  would  be  required  to 
loosen  the  Gordian  knot  in  which  they  had  involved 
their  traces.  When  the  animals  set  earnestly  to 
work  to  tancrle  these  traces  into  an  almost  inextri- 
cable  knot,  they  succeeded  ;  and  the  work  of  undoing 
the  mischief  with  hands  bared,  the  wind  blowing  a 
gale,  and  the  temperature  at  its  lowest  was  a  very 
thorough  test  of  patience  and  good-humour. 

One  of  the  most  conclusive  proofs  in  my  mind  that 
the  ancients  never  had  any  actual  knowledge  of  the 
Arctic  regions  lies  in  the  fact  that  they  called  their 
worst  knot  the  Gordian  knot.  Any  well-regulated 
Eskimo-doo-  team  can  in  one  night  discount  a  dozen 
Gordians. 

After  the  experiments  of  the  first  few  weeks,  while 
the  supporting  party  was  with  me,  the  daily  working 
ration  of  Astrup  and  myself  settled  down  to  from 
three-fourths  of  a  pound  to  one  pound  of  pemmican, 
with  biscuit,  condensed  milk,  compressed  pea  soup, 
tea,  and  alcohol  (fuel)  to  bring  the  ration  up  to  two 
and  one-half  pounds  per  man  per  day. 

We  had  three  meals  a  day,  one  before  leaving 
camp  in  the  morning,  a  lunch  at  the  midday  rest,  and 
the  third  after  reaching  camp  at  night. 

Our  only  beverages  were  compressed  tea  put  up 
in  one-fourth-pound  cakes,  and  Borden's  extract  of 
coffee,  which  was  issued  for  breakfast  on  Sunday 
morning  during  the  first  half  of  the  journey. 

On  the  last  day  of  April,  in  magnificent  bracing 
weather,  the  cliffs  at  the  head  of  McCormick  Bay 
clear-cut  as  cameos  through  the  frosty  air,  Ur.  Cook, 
Gibson,  Astrup,  Kyoahpahdu,  Tahwana,  Kookoo, 
and  two  Eskimo  boys,  opportune  arrivals  of  the 
night  before,  left  Red  Cliff  with  two  sledges  and 
twelve  does  draeeine  the  last  of  the  Inland-Ice  sup- 


The  White  March  285 

plies.  Three  days  later,  when  I  had  put  my  house 
in  order  and  completed  the  thousand  and  one  little 
things  which  always  crowd  the  last  moments  of  pre- 
paration for  a  long  journey,  I  followed,  with  Matt,  my 
remaining  eight  dogs,  and  the  big  eighteen-foot  dog- 
sledge.  The  start  was  made  at  half-past  eight  in  the 
evenine,  as  durine  the  next  three  months  the  usual 
order  of  things  was  to  be  reversed,  and  we  were  to 
travel  by  night  and  sleep  by  day.  Four  hours  after 
the  start,  my  dogs  were  scrambling  over  the  ice-foot 
at  the  head  of  ^he  Bay,  and  a  few  moments  later 


THE  CARAVAN  IN  LINE. 


my  Inland-Ice  sledge,  which  I  had  brought  up  on 
the  big  dog-sledge,"was  on  my  back,  and  with  Matt 
followmg  at  my  heels  with  a  couple  of  25-lb.  tins,  I 
began  climbing  the  bluff.  Sharp  rocks,  with  the 
spaces  between  them  filled  with  snow,  made  travelhng 
laborious  and  slow,  and  it  was  about  three  in  the 
morning  when  I  rose  over  the  edge  of  the  bluff,  and 
stumbled  upon  my  boys  asleep  in  the  snow  with  their 
dogs  picketed  near.  I  did  not  intend  to  disturb  them, 
but  as  I  put  down  my  sledge  and  turned  to  descend, 
the  Doctor  awoke  with  a  start  and  very  soon  all  were 
awake.      I  found  all  of  the  supplies  had  been  backed 


286       Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

to  the  ravine  half  a  mile  above  the  camp,  and  every- 
thing was  in  readiness  to  start  with  the  dogs  trom 
that  point.  Returning  to  the  ice-foot,  Matt  and  I 
brought  up  another  load,  and  then,  leaving  Matt  to 
get  a  little  sleep  with  the  other  boys,  I  went  down 
again  and  turned  in  as  I  was,  in  my  furs,  in  the  re- 
mains of  a  snow  hut  near  the  Bay. 

When  I  awoke  a  few  hours  later,  the  boys  were  at 
the  door  of  the  igloo,  and  I  found,  on  looking  up  the 
valley,  that  my  old  friend  the  Inland  Ice  was  evidently 


A  HALT  FOR  LUNCH. 


preparing  its  usual  reception  for  me  ;  the  leaden-grey 
clouds  massing  above  it  giving  every  indication  of  an 
approaching  storm.  Curiously  enough,  both  in  1886, 
when  I  went  on  the  Inland  Ice,  and  twice  again  this 
year,  when  I  climbed  the  ice-cap,  I  had  been  met  by 
furious  storms,  but  eventually  everything  had  turned 
out  well,  and  so  I  accepted  this  as  a  good  omen. 
Again  I  climbed  the  bluff,  this  time  with  my  big  dog- 
sledge  on  my  shoulders,  the  other  boys  bringing  the 
remainder  of  the  load.  Carrying  everything  to  the 
ravine,  the  sledges  were  loaded  there,  and  we  began  the 


The  White  March  2S7 

transportation  from  tlie  ravine  to  Cache  Camp  at  the 
edge  of  the  ice,  two  and  one-half  miles  from  camp  and 
2525  feet  above  sea-level.  Several  steep  slopes  In 
the  ravine  and  on  the  plateau  above  required  all  the 
dogs'  and  our  own  best  efforts  on  each  of  the  larger 
sledges.  Two  days  were  consumed  in  bringing  every- 
thing up  to  the  Cache  Camp,  where  Matt  and  Gibson 
had  built  a  snow  igloo,  and  where  we  cooked  our 
meals  at  a  fireplace  among  the  rocks  of  the  nuna- 
tak  close  by.  During  all  this  time,  there  were  signs 
of  coming  atmospheric  disturbances  of  more  than 
usual  intensity  :  a  precipitation  of  fine  frost  crystals, 
with  transient  snow-squalls  ;  e.xquisite  cloud  effects 
formed  and  vanished  in  and  over  McCormick  Bay, 
while  over  the  Inland  Ice  wicked-looking  white  cumuli 
grew  against  a  dark  lead-coloured  sky.  The  night 
temperatures  at  this  time  were — 1°  and  — 2°  F.  At 
Cache  Camp,  our  supplies  and  miscellaneous  equip- 
ment were  sorted  and  distributed  to  the  different 
sledges,  and  here  began  our  serious  trouble  with  our 
wild  wolves,  called  by  courtesy  dogs.  Restless  under 
their  new  masters  and  fighting  constantly  among 
themselves,  these  brutes  gave  us  not  a  moment's 
peace.  Hardly  an  hour  passed  when  not  at  work 
that  one  or  two  did  not  manage  to  break  their  harness 
or  eat  off  their  traces  and  free  themselves,  and  some- 
times four  or  five  would  be  loose  at  once.  To  cap- 
ture and  re-secure  one  of  them  was  always  a  work  of 
time  and  more  or  less  ingenuity,  and  frequently  re- 
sulted in  a  general  muster  for  the  Doctor's  services  in 
patching  up  the  wounds  from  their  wolf-like  teeth. 
Here,  too,  Matt's  frozen  heel  began  to  trouble  him, 
and  I  deemed  it  best  to  send  him  back  to  Red  Cliff 
House.  This  precluded  all  possibility  of  my  taking 
with  me  more  than  one  companion  on  the  long  journey. 
On  the  8th,  I  attempted  to  make  the  next  stage  from 


288        Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

Cache  Camp  up  the  lower  slopes  of  the  ice,  but  a 
strong  wind  blowing  clown  from  the  interior  and 
driving  the  loose  snow  in  the  face  of  my  dogs,  dis- 
couraged them  so  completely  that  we  could  do  nothing 
with  them,  and  were  obliged  to  await  the  pleasure  of 
the  weather.  Finally  we  got  under  way  and  succeeded 
in  advancing  a  short  stage  round  the  north  side  of 
the  first  big  hummock.  Here  a  second  igloo  was 
built,  but  the  snow   being    unsatisfactory   for    house 


SUPPER  IN  CAMP. 


construction,  only  a  small  one  was  practicable,  and, 
leaving  Astrijp  and  the  Doctor  to  occupy  this,  Gibson 
and  1  went  back  down  to  the  igloo  at  Cache  Camp 
to  sleep.  Tired  in  every  muscle  and  with  no  sleep 
for  sixty-four  hours,  I  think  I  must  have  fallen  asleep 
the  moment  I  tumbled  into  the  igloo.  Twelve  hours 
later  I  awoke  to  hear  the  rush  of  the  wind  over  our 
shelter,  and  the  hiss  of  the  drifting  snow  against  its 
side.     This  continued  for  twenty-four  hours,  when  I 


The  White  March  289 


could  stand  it  no  longer,  and  Gibson  and  myself 
started  for  the  upper  igloo.  Fierce  as  was  the  wind, 
which  sometimes  nearly  upset  us,  and  stinging  as  was 
the  driving  snow,  we  did  not  feel  the  cold,  as  our  fur 
clothing  kept  us  in  more  than  a  glow  of  warmth. 
Slowly  we  struggled  up  the  slope,  frequently  stopping 
to  turn  our  backs  to  the  wind  and  get  our  breath,  and 
at  last  came  in  sight  of  the  upper  igloo.  It  is  impossi- 
ble to  describe  my  feelings  of  discouragement  at  the 
sight  that  met  me.  The  igloo  was  almost  completely 
buried  in  the  snow  ;  its  occupants  had  not  been  able  to 
expose  themselves  to  the  wind.     The  dogs,  restless 


GIBSON,  TEAM,  AND  SLEDGE. 

as  always  in  wind,  had  fought  with  each  other  and 
chewed  at  their  harnesses  and  traces  till  half  of  them 
were  loose  and  running  at  will  about  the  sledges,  with 
their  stores  of  provisions,  while  the  rest  were  nearly 
buried  in  a  huge  drift  which  had  formed  about  them, 
and  as  I  got  nearer  I  saw  that  three  out  of  the  twenty 
were  victims  of  the  dreaded  dog  disease,  and  were 
almost  dead.  As  the  wind  was  still  blowing  with 
such  force  that  it  was  impossible  to  do  anything, 
Gibson  and  m\'self  crouched  in  the  lee  of  the  igloo, 
and  while  waiting  for  the  storm  to  cease,  learned  from 
the  Doctor  that  they  had  been  unable  to  get  out  of  the 


290        Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

igloo  ;  in  fact,  had  all  they  could  do  to  save  it  from 
destruction  by  the  resistless  sand  blast  of  the  driving 
snow  ;  that  several  tins  of  provisions,  set  in  motion  by 
the  dogs  tearing  at  them,  had  been  driven  down  the 
steep  slope  into  the  glacier  below  ;  and  that  the  dogs 
had  eaten  or  destroyed  everything  that  they  could 
get  at.  Fortunately  this  latter  item  was  not  large,  as 
all  of  my  stores  were  in  substantial  tins.  As  soon 
as  the  wind  ceased,  I  had  the  dogs  that  were  fast  to 
dig  out,  the  frozen  tangle  of  their  traces  to  unloosen, 
and  then  the  other  does  to  catch  and  re-harness.  As 
Gibson  said,  you  may  talk  about  lassoing  wild  steers 
in  Te.xas,  but  it  does  not  compare  with  rounding  up 
Eskimo  dogs.  The  usual  mode  of  procedure  was  to 
entice  a  dog  by  judiciously  thrown  morsels  of  meat  to 
within  reach,  and  then  make  a  rapid  grab  for  him, 
throwing  our  fur-clad  bodies  upon  him  and  forcing  his 
head  into  the  snow  as  quickly  as  possible.  This,  if 
skilfully  done, — and  constant  practice  rapidly  taught 
us, — could  usually  be  accomplished  without  receiving 
more  than  two  or  three  bites.  With  one  or  two  of 
the  dogs,  however,  it  was  different  :  these  it  was  neces- 
sary to  double  lasso  and  choke  into  insensibility,  be- 
fore the  harness  could  be  replaced.  From  this  igloo 
we  proceeded  by  double  banking  about  three  miles 
farther,  before  we  were  obliged  to  camp.  Here  we 
dispensed  with  an  igloo,  as  it  took  too  much  time  to 
construct,  and  we  were  so  tired  that  we  could  sleep 
anywhere  that  we  could  lie  down. 

So  the  work  went  on,  under  many  discouragements, 
until  the  15th.  I  had  been  led  to  believe,  as  the  result 
of  the  reconnaissance  made  the  previous  fall,  that 
after  the  first  slope  had  been  accomplished  a  nearly 
level  route  would  be  found.  It  seems  that  the  de- 
ceptive light  of  the  autumn  twilight  had  misled  Astriip 
and  Gibson,  and  1  found  that  I  must  drag  my  sledges 


The  White  March  291 

and  their  loads  up  one  snow  slope  and  down  another 
for  a  distance  of  about  fifteen  miles,  before  reaching 
the  easy,  gradual  slope  of  the  true  Inland  Ice. 

During  the  first  ten  days,  my  broken  leg  gave  me 
some  trouble,  and  rendered  the  scant  hours  of  rest 
which  the  exigencies  of  the  work  permitted,  less 
refreshing  than  they  might  have  been. 

The  excessive  and  incessant  demands  upon  it  from 
snow-shoeing,  lifting  on  the  sledges,  running  after 
loose  dogs,  etc.,  would  have  taxed  it  under  the  best 
of  circumstances,  and  now  with  the  muscles  still 
slightly    atrophied    from    disuse,    and    the    ligaments 


DR.  COOK,  TEAM,  AND  SLEDGE. 

stiffened  from  the  healing  process,  the  result  was  a 
constant  dull  pain  which  I  was  only  too  glad  to  have 
reach  at  times  the  stage  of  numbness. 

This  wore  off  gradually,  and  the  ultimate  result 
was  undoubtedly  advantageous,  as  the  exercise  de- 
manded and  obtained  from  ligaments  and  joints  the 
full  range  of  flexure  they  had  ever  had  before  the 
accident,  perhaps  more. 

The  fact  that  within  less  than  ten  months  after  the 
fracture  of  both  bones  in  my  leg,  I  was  able  to  undertake 
and  go  through  with  a  1 200-mile  tramp  on  snow-shoes 
without    more    serious    results    than   a   few   sleepless 


292        Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

hours,  is  an  emphatic  proof  of  the  heakhiness  of  the 
chmate,  the  professional  skill  of  Dr.  Cook,  and  the 
tender  care  of  Mrs.  Peary.  At  last,  on  the  15th,  I 
found  myself  looking  up  that  long,  easy,  white  slope 
which  I  knew  so  well,  and  in  regard  to  which  there 
could  be  no  mistake,  and  the  next  day  our  real  journey 
upon  the  ice-cap  may  be  said  to  have  commenced. 

My  course  was  north-east  true,  which,  assuming  the 
charts  to  be  correct,  should  enable  me  to  clear  the 
heads  of  the  Humboldt,  Petermann,  and  Sherard-Os- 
born  indentations. 

At  this  time,  I   had   but  sixteen  dogs  out  of  my 


ASTRUP,  TEAM,  AND  SLEDGE. 

twenty,  another  one  having  succumbed  to  the  dog 
disease.  As  a  result,  we  all  of  us  settled  into  the 
traces  and  did  our  share  of  the  hauling.  Two  short 
marches  of  five  and  seven  miles  brought  us  to  an  eleva- 
tion of  five  thousand  feet,  and  early  in  the  third  march 
the  highest  summits  of  the  Whale-Sound  land  disap- 
peared, and  I  found  to  my  surprise  that  we  were 
descending,  having  already  passed  over  the  divide 
between  Whale  Sound  and  Kane  Basin,  and  being  on 
the  descent  towards  the  basin  of  the  Humboldt  Glacier. 
By  this  time,  both  the  dogs  and  ourselves  had  gotten 
more  used  to  the  work,  our  sledges  had  been  better 


The  White  March  293 

adjusted,  and  this  with  the  down  grade  enabled  us  to 
make  better  time.  Our  third  march  having  been 
twelve  miles,  our  fourth  was  twenty,  and  before  we 
went  into  camp  the  misty  mountain-tops  of  the  land 
between  Rensselaer  Harbour  and  the  south-eastern 
angle  of  Humboldt  Glacier  rose  into  view  in  the  dis- 
tant north-west.  The  next  day  we  tallied  twenty  miles 
over  a  gently  undulating  and  gradually  descending 
surface,  but  on  the  following  day  the  surface  became 
much  more  hummocky,  and  just  about  midnight  we 


SNOW  IGLOO  AT  HUMBOLDT  GLACIER. 

Buried  Sledges  in  Background. 

came  out  upon  the  ice-bluffs  marking  the  boundary 
of  the  glacier  basin  opening  down  towards  Mary  Min- 
turn  River.  My  north-east  course  just  cleared  these 
bluffs,  but  fearing  others  ahead  I  deflected  about 
five  miles  to  the  eastward,  and  then  resumed  my 
course.  The  rough  nature  of  the  ice  made  this  day's 
march  comparatively  short,  and  the  atmospheric  indic- 
ations being  those  of  a  coming  storm,  I  halted  early 
to  permit  the  construction  of  an  igloo  to  shelter  us. 
The  blue-black  sky  with  angry  lead-coloured  clouds 


294       Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

massing  beneath  it,  the  ghastly  whiteness  of  the  ice- 
blink, and  the  raw,  cutting  south-east  wind  could  not 
be  misunderstood,  and  before  our  igloo  was  complete 
everything  was  blotted  out  by  the  driving  snow. 
Poor  Gibson,  I  pitied  him  that  night,  for  it  was  his 
turn  to  do  the  "  costume  act,"  as  we  called  it  ;  in  other 
words,  it  was  his  turn  to  sleep  fully  dressed  outside, 
so  that  he  could  attend  instantly  to  a  loose  dog  before 
he  had  done  any  damage.  Our  dogs  were  always 
bad  enough  in  wind  and  storm,  but  this  time,  as  the 
storm  continued,  they  seemed  as  if  possessed  of  devils, 
howling,  fighting,  and  tearing  themselves  loose  from 


ON  THE   MARCH. 


the  stakes  to  which  they  were  fastened,  and  when 
finally  Gibson,  weary  with  his  efforts  at  re-capturing, 
fell  asleep  for  a  few  moments  reclining  against  the 
entrance  of  the  igloo,  one  of  them  ate  the  bottom  off 
his  sleeping-bag,  while  another  bolted  about  six  pounds 
of  cranberry  jam,  nearly  half  my  entire  stock  for  the 
long  journey.  Forty-eight  hours  of  incessant  wind 
and  snow,  and  then  the  storm  passed  over  north-west 
into  Kane  Basin,  and  left  us  in  peace.  As  we  crawled 
out  of  our  igloo  into  the  brilliant  sunshine  and  looked 
over  that  unbroken  expanse  of  snow,  stretching  to 
the  horizon  in  every  direction,  carved  and  scoured  by 


The  White  March  295 

the  wind  into  marble  waves,  there  was  one  of  the 
party  who  could  hardly  realise  that  the  church  bells 
were  ringing  through  the  scented  atmosphere  of  June 
fields  and  forests  in  thousands  of  far-distant  home 
towns  and  villages.  Our  sledges  were  invisible,  com- 
pletely buried  in  the  drifts  which  in  storms  on  the 
Inland  Ice  grow  around  and  over  the  slightest  ob- 
struction. Several  hours  were  occupied  in  the  work 
of  excavating  our  sledges  and  reloading  them,  of 
catching  and  harnessing  the  dogs,  and  straightening 
out  the  tangles  of  the  traces  and  harnesses. 

But  once  under  way,  we  found  that  the  storm  had 
in  one  sense  been  our  friend,  and  had  proved  a  glori- 
ous road-maker  for  us.  Sledges  and  dogs  slipped 
merrily  over  the  firm  sash-ugi,  and  with  comparatively 
little  difficulty  we  made  another  twenty-mile  march. 
This  time  we  slept  behind  our  sledges,  and  another 
twenty-mile  march  the  following  day  brought  us  to 
the  camp  at  which  I  had  determined  the  supporting 
part)'  should  leave  me.  We  were  now  one  hundred 
and  thirty  miles  from  the  shore  of  McCormick  Bay, 
and  though  the  road  back  was  perfectly  straight  and 
free  of  obstacles,  yet  the  descent  from  the  Inland  Ice 
mieht  be  dangerous  if  those  returningr  did  not  make 
the  land  at  just  the  right  point,  and  so  I  did  not  feel 
that  I  could  take  the  supporting  party  any  farther. 
When  we  camped,  I  told  the  boys  that  this  was  our 
last  camp  together,  that  after  we  had  slept  two  would 
return  and  two  go  on.  Then  after  dinner,  as  we  sat 
about  our  little  kitchen  before  turning  in,  I  reminded 
them  of  what  I  had  said  early  in  the  spring,  that  when 
we  reached  Humboldt  Glacier  I  should  call  for  volun- 
teers for  the  long  trip,  and  from  these  volunteers 
should  make  my  selection.  I  told  them  they  had  now 
been  on  the  ice-cap  long  enough  to  know  what  it 
was  like,  and  to  understand  that  it  was  no  child's  play. 


296       Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

I  told  them  that  once  started  there  could  be  no  turn- 
ing back.  I  also  told  them  that  to  many  it  would 
seem  a  dangerous,  perhaps  foolhardy  thing  for  two 
men  to  strike  out  into  these  unknown  regions,  depend- 
ent only  upon  their  own  resources  and  health  for 
a  safe  return  ;  that  for  myself  I  did  not  consider 
it  dangerous,  but  that  each  man  must  decide  for 
himself.  The  Doctor  was  the  first  to  volunteer,  but 
Gibson  and  Astrijp  were  close  behind  him.  I  then 
made  my  detail  as  follows  :  Astriip  to  go  with   me. 


Gibson. 


Dr.  Cook. 


^^ 


GIBSON  AND   DR.  COOK   STARTING   BACK. 

Gibson  to  return  in  command  of  the  supporting  party, 
and  when  he  had  reached  Red  Cliff  House  to  devote 
his  entire  time  to  obtaining  ornithological  specimens 
and  supplying  the  party  with  game.  Dr.  Cook,  upon 
his  arrival  at  Red  Cliff,  was  to  assume  charge  there,  and 
remain  in  that  capacity  until  my  return  from  the  In- 
land Ice.  In  a  few  moments,  all  but  one  of  the  in- 
mates of  Camp  Separation  were  sleeping  the  sleep  of 
the  tired  and  healthy.  The  next  morning  early,  the 
relashine  of  the  sledges  was  undertaken  and  soon  ac- 


The  White  March  297 

complished,  the  loads  carefully  re-stowed  and  secured, 
so  that  the  work  which  had  hitherto  been  done  by 
four,  and  which  would  now  devolve  upon  two,  might 
be  as  easy  as  possible.  Gibson  and  the  Doctor  took 
their  personal  equipments,  with  one  of  the  lighter 
sledges,  two  dogs,  and  rations  for  twelve  days  ;  then 
I  gave  Gibson  an  extra  compass,  one  of  my  chrono- 
meters, a  chart,  and  careful  instructions  as  to  making 
the  land  at  McCormick  Bay,  and  we  were  ready  to 
separate.  Little  was  said,  but  I  think  we  all  felt 
much  as  we  quietly  shook  hands,  and  then  Astrup 
and  myself  started  out,  leaving  the  Doctor  and  Gibson 
looking  after  us.  In  a  little  while  we  saw  them  under 
way,  and  in  a  few  minutes  more  the  inequalities  of 
the  "  Great  Ice  "  hid  them  from  view. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

OVER  THE  "GREAT  ICE "  TO  THE  NORTHERN  END  OF 
GREENLAND. 

A  Wrecked  Sledge— Out  of  Humboldt  Basin — On  the  Ice-Bluffs  Over- 
looking Petermann  Fjord — Deep  Snow — My  Dogs — Giant  Crevasses  — 
Over  the  Divide  into  Sherard-Osborne  Basin — Climbing  out  of  a 
Trap — Loss  of  Nalegaksoah — Heavy  Going — The  Evil  Eye— Over  the 
Continental  Divide — Land— Northern  Edge  of  the  "  Great  Ice" — The 
Fjord  Barrier— South-East — Down  to  the  Red-Brown  Summits — Re- 
connaissance of  the  Land — Birds,  Flowers,  and  Traces  of  Musk-Oxen. 


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CHAPTER  XI. 


OVER  THE  "  GREAT  ICE   TO  THE  NORTHERN  END  OF 
GREENLAND. 


AS  I  had  already  found 
that  it  was  impos- 
'-  sible  to  drive  and 
euide  our  doo's  over  the 
unbroken  ice-bHnk  with- 
out a  pilot  ahead,  the 
problem  of  how  the 
sledges  and  dogs  could 
be  so  arranged  as  to  be 
managed  by  one  man,  had 
given  me  considerable 
food  for  thought.  I  finally 
decided  to  try  the  following  tentative  method  :  three 
of  my  best  dogs,  Nalegaksoah,  Pau,  and  Tahwana, 
who  had  become  attached  to  me  and  were  always 
eager  to  keep  close  to  me,  were  harnessed  to  the  light 
sledge  built  by  Astriip,  carrying  a  load  of  about 
two  hundred  pounds.  These  dogs  were  to  follow 
me,  and  behind  them  would  come  Astriip  with  the 
other  ten  dogs  attached  to  the  big  dog-sledge,  with 
the  second  doe-sledee  in  tow,  the  total  load  on  both 
amounting  to  about  one  thousand  pounds.  This 
method  worked  fairly  well  during  our  first  march, 
which  was  but  a  short  one,   made    simply  with    the 

301 


302       Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

object  of  getting  the  separation  over  with,  and  get- 
ting straightened  out  on  the  long  journey.  The  next 
day  I  found  it  necessary  to  mal<;e  a  change,  and  trans- 
ferred all  the  dogs  to  the  big  sledge,  putting  the 
little  one  again  in  tow  of  the  other  two. 

We  had  gone  but  a  short  distance,  however,  when 
the  larger  dog-sledge,  as  the  result  of  the  severe 
blows  it  was  getting  when  travelling  over  the  marble- 
like sasfrugi,  broke  down,  one  side  bending  inward 
and  breaking  all  standards  on  that  side.     The  wreck 


WITH  THE  GUIDON. 


of  this  side  was  so  complete  that  for  a  little  while  I 
was  at  a  loss  what  to  do,  but  finally  the  idea  suggested 
itself  of  lashing  the  remains  of  the  sledge  alongside 
the  other,  making  one  broad,  four-foot-wide  sledge 
with  three  runners.  This  idea  was  quickly  carried 
out,  the  sledges  lashed  together  and  reloaded,  the 
result  proving  very  satisfactory.  The  three  runners 
seemed  to  make  the  sledge  much  more  steady,  pre- 
venting it  from  slatting,  and  seemed  to  very  materially 
ease  the  blows  in  passing  over  the  sasfj-itgi.  The 
delay  incident  to  the  accident,  however,  shortened  our 


To  the  Northern  End  of  Greenland      303 

march,  and  this,  with  the  graduahy  decreasing  firm- 
ness of  the  snow  surface,  left  us  with  only  ten  miles 
to  our  credit.  On  our  next  march,  the  snow  rapidly 
became  softer  and  deeper,  making  very  heavy  travel- 
ling, but  as  we  met  with  no  accident  we  were  able 
to  cover  fifteen  miles.  In  this  march  we  began  climb- 
ing again,  having  kept  a  nearly  constant  elevation 
of  3500  feet  across  the  Humboldt-Glacier  Basin. 
The  next  day  the  snow  was  even  worse  than  before, 
the  sledges  sinking  in  it  nearly  to  the  cross-bars, 
and  this,  together  with  an  up  grade,  made  the  haul- 
ing so  heavy,  that  after  a  few  hours  my  dogs  refused 
absolutely  to  work  any  more,  and  I  was  obliged  to 
o-o  into  camp.  As  the  weather  seemed  rather  threat- 
ening here,  we  made  our  third  igloo,  and  while  Astriip 
was  engaged  in  this,  I  tried  to  study  out  some  plan 
for  making  our  load  drag  more  easily.  The  result 
of  this  was  the  construction  of  an  impromptu  sledge 
from  an  extra  pair  of  ski,  and  the  transfer  to  it  of 
about  one  hundred  and  twenty  pounds  from  the  big 
sledge.  At  this  camp,  we  commenced  our  regular 
sledge  ration  with  a  daily  allowance  of  butter  and 
Liebig  extract.  At  this  camp  also,  one  of  my  dogs 
down  with  the  dog  disease  was  killed  and  fed  to  the 
others,  disproving  conclusively  the  old  saying  "  that 
dog  will  not  eat  dog."  I  had  now  twelve  fine  dogs, 
almost  every  one  of  whom  had  tasted  in  savage  con- 
flict the  hot  red  blood  of  their  natural  enemy,  the 
polar  bear,  the  "  tiger  of  the  North."  There  were 
Nalegaksoah  the  king,  Pau,  Lion,  Castor  and  Pol- 
lux, Merktoshar  ist  and  2d,  Miss  Tahwana,  the  Pan- 
ikpas,  brother  and  sister.  The  following  day,  the 
continuance  of  the  up  grade  and  the  increasing  depth 
of  the  snow  compelled  us  to  resort  to  double-banking, 
and  the  end  of  the  day  found  us  but  three  miles 
ahead  of  our  last  camp. 


304       Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

Ourselves  tired  and  our  dogs  out  of  sorts,  Astrijp 
and  myself  ate  our  dinner  in  silence,  and  were  glad 
to  lose  ourselves  in  sleep.  The  morning  found  us 
refreshed  and  with  a  new  stock  of  courage,  but  still 
I  felt  that  if  by  hard  work  and  no  end  of  trouble  I 
could  gain  ten  miles  I  should  be  satisfied.  To  my 
agreeable  surprise,  the  next  camp  found  us  fifteen 
miles   farther    on    our   way,  and  this  too  without    a 


ASTRUP  AND  MY  DOGS. 


mishap  or  hitch  throughout  the  march.  We  were 
now  evidently  at  the  top  of  the  grade,  and  could  soon 
expect  a  slight  descent  on  the  northern  side  of  the 
divide  toward  the  basin  of  the  Petermann  Fjord. 
The  next  day  proved  the  truth  of  these  conclusions. 
The  snow  surface  became  harder  and  harder,  the 
aneroid  and  the  sledges  both  indicated  a  gradual 
descent,  and  after  six  hours'  marching  we  came  upon 


To  the  Northern  End  of  Greenland     305 

a  firm,  marble-like  surface,  showing  evidence  of  most 
violent  wind  forces,  and  scored  and  carved  until  it 
looked  like  a  great  bed  of  white  lava.  Two  hours 
later,  land  was  sighted  to  the  north-west,  and  yet  two 
hours  later  I  called  a  halt,  with  a  record  of  twenty 
miles  for  the  day. 

On  the  last   day  of   May,  we  had   advanced  but 
five  miles,  when,  as  we  rose  on  to  the  crest  of  a  long 


"LIKE  A  GREAT  BED  OF  WHITE  LAVA." 

Sasfri/f;i  of  the  "  C.reat  Ice." 

hummock,  the  head  of  Petermann  Fjord  with  its 
guardino-  mountains,  and  the  great  basm  of  the  gla- 
cier discharging  into  it,  flashed  into  sight  below  us. 
Here  we  were  on  the  ice-bluffs  forming  the  hmit  of  the 
great  glacier  basin,  just  as  we  had  been  at  Humboldt 
but  a  trifle  less  fortunate  here  than  at  Humboldt,  I 
found  it  necessary  to  deflect  some  ten  miles  to  the  east- 
ward to  avoid  the  inequalities  of  the  glacier  basin,  and 
the  great  crevasses  which  cut  the  ice-bluffs  encircling  it. 


o 


06       Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 


Though  it  had  been  my  good  iortune  to  look  down 
from  the  height  of  the  Inland  Ice  into  four  of  the  great- 
est glaciers  in  the  world,  Jacobshavn,Tossukatek;,  Great 
Kariak,  and  Humboldt,  it  was  with  strange  feelings  of 
uncertainty  that  I  looked  upon  this  view.  I  could 
hardly  divest  myself  of  the  feeling  that  the  ragged,  shin- 
ing ice-field  before  me,  the  glistening  ice-caps  stretch- 
ing up  into  Washington  Land,  and  the  dark  mountains 
guarding  the  distant  shores,  might  vanish  and  leave 
me  with  only  the  unbroken  ice-horizon  of  previous 
days.  The  weather  being  so  clear  and  our  location 
so  favourable  for  observation,  I  made  no  attempt  to 
advance  farther,  but  camped  at  once  and  began 
observations  for  determining  positions  and  the  bear- 
ings of  the  land.  In  this  camp,  4200  feet  above  the 
sea,  we  remained  thirty-six  hours,  with  a  continuance  of 
the  most  perfect  weather, — warm,  clear,  and,  what  was 
most  unusual,  calm.  For  two  or  three  hours  at  midday 
my  thermometer  in  the  sun  registered  yy"  F.,  and  ad- 
vantage was  taken  of  this  to  thoroughly  dry  and  air 
all  our  clothing,  and  by  myself  to  enjoy  the  luxury  of  a 
snow  bath.  Leaving  Camp  Petermann,  I  kept  away 
due  east,  parallel  with  a  series  of  gigantic  crevasses, 
most  of  which  were  covered  with  snow,  though  in 
places  the  drifts  had  fallen  in,  exposing  the  blue-black 
depths  of  the  chasms.  I  tried  repeatedly  to  get  an 
idea,  from  the  walls  of  these  clefts  in  the  ice,  of  the 
gradual  change  from  the  surface  snow  to  neve,  and 
thence  to  true  homogeneous  ice,  but  my  efforts  were 
thwarted  by  the  incrustations  of  fine  snow  upon  the 
sides  of  the  crevasses.  On  the  leeward  side  of  one 
of  the  largest  of  these  openings,  was  an  enormous 
mound  of  compacted  snow,  not  less  than  eighty  feet 
in  height,  the  formation  of  which  puzzled  me  for  a 
long  time,  though  I  finally  saw  a  reason  for  believ- 
ing that  it  was  caused  by  the  deposition  of  snow  in 


To  the  Northern  End  of  Greenland      307 


the  eddy  caused  by  the  break  in  the  crevasse.  The 
ten  miles'  detour  to  the  eastward  enabled  me  to  flank 
all  the  crevasses,  and  again  I  took  up  my  course  north- 
east, hoping  to  clear  the  basin  of  Sherard-Osborne 
Fjord  as  fortun- 
ately as  I  had 
weathered  those 
of  Humboldt 
and  Petermann. 
From  Camp 
Petermann  the 
surface  was  com- 
paratively level, 
and  we  kept  the 
highest  summits 
of  the  Petermann 
Mountains  in 
sight  for  fort\ 
miles,  then  tin- 
aneroid  began  to 
show  a  gradual 
rise,  the  snow  be- 
came softer  and 
deeper,  and  I 
knew  that  we 
were  beginning 
the  ascent  of  the 
divide  between 
the  Petermann 
and  Sherard-Os- 
borne Basins. 

Still  we  were  able  to  make  fairly  good  progress, 
and  three  and  a  half  marches  brought  us,  June 
5th,  to  the  summit  of  the  divide,  5700  feet  above  sea- 
level.  From  this  divide  summit,  as  in  every  pre- 
vious  instance,  we  found   the  travelling  very  good. 


CREVASSE   OF  THE   "GREAT   ICE." 


joS       Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

and  with  the  wnid  behuid  us  were  able  to  make  nine- 
teen and  one-lialf  and  twenty-one  miles,  respectively, 
in  two  successive  marches,  camping  in  view  of  She- 
rard-Osborne  Fjord,  as  I  at  first  supposed,  on  the 
Sth  of  June.  I  had  not  expected  to  sight  land  again 
so  soon,  and  if  the  maps  were  correct,  it  should  have 
taken  about  two  marches  more  to  have  brought 
me  within  sight  of  this  inlet,  but  I  assumed  that 
naturally  the  delineation  of  the  inner  portion  of  the 


ICE   MOUND,   PETERMANN  BASIN. 


great 


fjord  might  be  considerably  out  in  latitude, 
and  that  what  1  saw  before  me  must  be  Sherard  Os- 
borne. Future  developments  showed  me  that  I  was 
wrong,  and  that  St.  George's  Fjord  penetrates  far- 
ther inland  than  had  been  supposed,  and  that  this 
was  what  I  saw  before  me.  The  latter  part  of  the 
march  of  June  Sth  had  been  through  threatening 
weather,  the  sky  overcast,  the  distant  land  dark  and 
indistinct,  and  that  peculiar  light  over  the  Inland  Ice 


To  the  Northern  End  of  Greenland     309 

which  makes  it  impossible  to  distinguish  its  relief  I 
knew,  however,  not  only  from  my  aneroids,  but  from 
the  way  the  sledges  travelled,  that  we  were  descend- 
ing quite  rapidly,  and  this,  with  the  occurrence  of  sev- 
erfl  patches  of  bare  blue  ice,  caused  me  to  hes.ta  e, 
and  finally  call  a  halt  on  the  completion  of  the  twenty- 


A  TYPICAL  CAMP. 

first  mile,  though  we  could  easily  have  accomplished 
four  or  five  miles  more. 

The  experiences  of  the  next  two  weeks  showed 
the  wisdom  of  my  cautiousness,  and  that  it  would 
have  been  much  better  if  I  had  had  a  Premonition 
of  trouble  still  earlier  in  the  day.  We  had  hardly 
made  camp  and  finished  our  dinner,  when  the  gather- 
incr  storm  broke  upon  us,  and  once  more  we  had  to 
pift    up    with    being   imprisoned— Astriip  under    the 


3IO        Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

sledge  tarpaulin,  myself  in  the  little  excavation  half 
covered  with  a  sail  which  we  called  our  kitchen — 
for  two  days,  with  the  wind  howling  past  us  down 
the  slope  towards  the  distant  land,  and  the  blinding 
drifts  of  snow  hissing  and  whirling  over  our  little 
shelters.  When  the  storm  ceased  and  we  crawled 
out  of  the  drifts  in  which  we  had  been  buried,  I  saw, 
at  a  glance,  that  we  were  right  on  the  southern  edge 
of  the  central  trough  of  the  glacier  basin.  The  de- 
scent to  this,  consisting  almost  entirely  of  hard  blue 
ice,  swept  clean  by  the  furious  wind,  was  so  steep  that 
our  sledges  would  have  been  unmanageable,  and  the 
opposite  side  rose,  as  far  as  the  glass  could  reach,  in 
steep,  crevasse-intersected  terraces,  unscalable  for  our 
heavily  loaded  sledges.  Across  the  glacier  basin  to 
the  north-east,  the  crevasses  and  patches  of  blue  ice 
continued  ;  east  and  south,  steep  icy  slopes,  but  for- 
tunately free  of  crevasses,  rose  above  us.  It  was  evi- 
dent our  only  e.\it  was  by  climbing  those  slopes  to 
the  south-east,  beating  to  windward,  as  it  were,  out  of 
the  reefs  and  off  the  lee  shore  on  which  we  found  our- 
selves. 

It  took  two  entire  days  of  the  hardest  and  most 
discouraging  work  of  the  whole  journey  to  extricate 
ourselves  from  the  trap  into  which  we  had  fallen,  and 
at  the  end  of  the  two  days  we  had  lost  fifteen  miles 
of  our  hard-earned  northing.  Steep  icy  slopes,  which 
had  to  be  scaled  by  zigzagging  against  a  strong 
head-wind,  strained  the  sledges  and  the  dogs,  necessi- 
tated the  utmost  care  to  prevent  the  sledges  from 
being  swept  into  the  glacier  below,  and  bruised  and 
wrenched  Astriip  and  myself  with  constant  falls.  At 
last,  however,  we  regained  the  unbroken  snow-clad 
height  of  the  Inland  Ice,  and  never  did  I  appreciate 
more  fully  the  old  German  song,  "  Auf  den  Hohen 
ist  Freiheit."     Once  more  we  could  set  our  course  and 


To  the  Northern  End  of  Greenland      311 

keep  it.  In  this  climb,  Nalegaksoah,  my  best  dog, 
and  king  of  the  team,  received  a  sprain  which  resulted 
in  my  losing  him  four  days  later.  Nalegaksoah  was 
a  long-limbed  brute,  quick  as  a  flash  of  light,  with 
jaws  like  the  grip  of  fate.  A  born  fighter,  he  had 
sunk  his  gleaming  white  teeth  into  the  flanks  and 
throat  of  more  than  one  polar  bear,  and  in  the  first 
struggle  for  su- 
premacy, when 
the  does  which  I 
had  purchased 
came  together, 
had  unaided  near- 
ly killed  both  of 
the  one-eyed  hun- 
ter's fierce  bear 
does.  Yet  he  was 
one  of  the  most 
affectionate  dogs 
in  the  team,  and 
a  n  encouraeine 
word  or  touch  of 
my  hand  was  suf- 
ficient to  bring 
his  great  paws 
thrusting  against 
my  chest  and  his 
fierce  yet  intelli- 
gent face  on  a 
level  with  my 
own.  Poor  fel- 
low, I  mourned 
the  loss  of  a  friend 
when,  after  limp- 
ing along  behind  the  sledges  for  two  or  three  days 
wi'th  his  sprained  leg,  he  lagged  behind  and  was  lost 


NALEGAKSOAH. 


312        Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

in  one  of  the  ice-cap  storms.  Here  too  I  lost  my  spy- 
glass in  a  crevasse,  and  narrowly  escaped  the  loss  of 
Lion  and  Pau,  two  of  my  best  dogs,  also  in  a  crevasse. 
Both  fell  till  their  traces  stopped  them,  and  then  hung 
suspended  until  hoisted  out.  Once  back  on  the  upper 
level  of  the  Inland  Ice,  and  with  clear  weather  to  help 
me,  I  could  make  out  the  orography  of  the  surface, 
and  could  see  the  depression  of  the  glacier  basin  still 
sweeping  away  to  the  eastward. 

Bearing  away  to  the  eastward  until  I  could  round 
this  depression,  we  once  more  started  north-east.  We 
were  soon  brought  up,  however,  by  another  group  of 
enormous  crevasses,  fifty  to  a  hundred  feet  in  width, 
extending  across  our  course,  and,  as  luck  would  have 
it,  almost  as  we  reached  these,  a  dense  fog  swept  up 
the  glacier  basin  from  the  coast,  shrouding  the  cre- 
vasses and  ourselves  in  a  grey  opacity  which  constricted 
our  range  of  vision  to  an  arm-stretch  and  made  it 
dangerous  to  move.  We  could  only  wait  until  this 
cleared  away,  which  was  not  until  eighteen  hours  later. 
Then  a  half-hour's  reconnaissance  enabled  us  to  flank 
the  crevasses  and  proceed  on  our  course  again.  By 
this  time  Astrijp  and  myself  had  named  the  glacier 
basin  which  had  caused  us  so  much  trouble,  the  bot- 
tomless pit,  and  had  grown  to  hate  the  sight  of  the 
land.  I  made  up  my  mind  now,  in  order  to  avoid  fur- 
ther delay  and  annoyance  from  these  great  glacier 
basins,  to  strike  still  farther  into  the  interior,  so  as  to 
avoid  them  completely.  In  attempting  to  carry  out 
this  plan,  however,  I  found  the  snow  increasing  so 
rapidly  and  the  surface  of  the  Inland  Ice  rising  at  such 
a  steep  grade  as  I  advanced  into  the  interior,  that  I 
finally  steered  a  more  northerly  course.  We  had 
hardly  made  four  miles  in  this  direction,  when  once 
more  the  bie  sledee,  strained  and  weakened  bv  the 
rough  work  of  the  last  eight  days,  broke  down  again, 


To  the  Northern  End  of  Greenland      313 

and  we  lost  an  entire  day  in  repairing  and  relashing 
it,  and  re-stowing  its  load.  The  next  day  we  were  able 
to  adv'ance  six  miles,  and  then  were  treated  to  a  source 
of  annoyance  and  delay  which  we  had  not  counted 
upon.  A  few  hours  of  snow-storm,  followed  by  dark 
and  cloudy  weather  and  a  rapid  rise  of  temperature 
nearly  to  the  freezing-point,  resulted  in  that  worst  of 
all  possible  conditions  of  the  snow,  viz.  :  a  certain  stick- 
iness which  made  the  sledges  draof  as  if  loaded  with 
lead.  The  dogs,  which  at  other  times  could  take 
both  sledges  along  at  a  good  pace,  were  now  unable 
to  move  one,  and  required  the  assistance  of  Astriip 


■*!  r    Y7  "*■  J3P^ 

.-.     -                            1 

A  BREAK-DOWN. 


and  myself,  the  one  pulling,  and  the  other  pushing  at 
the  upstanders.  Under  these  circumstances,  nothing 
could  be  done  except  wait  for  a  fall  of  temperature, 
and  this  did  not  occur  for  two  days.  The  time,  how- 
ever, was  utilised  in  overhauling  the  sledges  and  loads, 
and  throwing  away  articles  and  material  which  our 
experience  now  showed  us  could  be  spared.  The  total 
weight  thus  left  amounted  to  some  seventy-five  pounds. 
The  first  drop  in  temperature  was  eagerly  seized 
upon  to  advance  again,  and  with  Astriip  and  myself 
assisting,  and  with  all  the  dogs  at  one  sledge,  we  suc- 
ceeded with  double-banking  in  advancing  six  and  one- 


314        Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

quarter  miles.  The  following;  da)-  the  going  was  much 
better,  but  hardly  had  we  got  well  straightened  out,  be- 
fore the  land,  this  time  in  reality  the  shores  of  Sherard 
Osborne,  rose  into  view  ahead  of  us,  and  once  more 
I  found  myself  compelled  to  deflect,  first  to  the  north- 
east and  then  to  the  east.  Night  found  us  with  six- 
teen and  one-half  miles  to   our  credit,  and  another 


HARD  TIMES. 


great  glacier  basin  yet  to  be  weathered.  An  idea  of 
the  next  day  can  perhaps  be  obtained  from  an  extract 
from  my  journal.  "  Another  discouraging  day  within 
sight  of  the  baleful  shores  of  this  arctic  Sahara,  but 
we  are  on  the  heights  once  more,  for  good,  I  hope, 
and,  I  also  trust,  free  from  further  obstacles.  If  there 
is  any  truth  in  the  superstition  of  the  evil  eye,  the 
coast  of  this  Inland  Ice  surely  has  evil  eyes.     Just  as 


To  the  Northern  End  of  Greenland     315 

long  as  the  black  cliffs  peer  up  at  us  over  the  round 
of  the  ice-cap,  just  so  long-  are  we  beset  with  crevasses, 
slippery  ice,  hummocks,  howling  wind-storms,  furious 
drifts,  and  fogs.  The  dogs  seem  possessed  with 
devils,  the  sledge  and  odometer  break,  some  item  or 
other  of  our  equipment  is  sure  to  be  lost,  and  every- 
thing seems  to  go  wrong.  Once  out  of  its  sight,  we  find 
summer  weather,  light  winds,  little  drift — in  a  word, 
peace  and  comfort.  The  intolerable  drift  last  night 
gave  us  no  chance  to  sleep  comfortably,  beating  under 


IN  THE   DEEP-SNOW  REGION. 


and  through  every  minute  aperture  of  the  tarpaulin, 
and  melting  as  it  fell  on  our  faces  and  clothing.  This 
morning  one  of  my  best  dogs.  Castor,  was  dead  lame 
in  one  leg,  and  unable  to  pull,  and  the  traces  were 
fearfully  tangled  and  frozen  into  the  drift  at  the 
hitching-post." 

We  had  advanced  but  eight  miles,  when  we  found 
ourselves  hemmed  in  by  a  series  of  huge  concentric 
crevasses.  The  remainder  of  the  day  was  spent  in 
reconnoitring  for  safe  snowbridges,  by  which  they 
could   be    crossed.      This    could   be   done   only  in    a 


3i6        Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

south-easterly  direction,  and  night  found  us  farther 
south  than  we  were  in  the  morning.     Once  we  had  two 
of  our  dogs  down  in  a  crevasse,  and  once  the  sledge, 
with  all  our  biscuits  and  one  hundred  pounds  of  peni- 
mican,  broke  through,  and  but  for  a  projecting  ledge 
of  ice  on  the  edge  of  the  crevasse,  which  temporarily 
supported  it  till  Astriip  and  myself  could  pull  it  out 
of  danger,  we  should  have  lost  all.     At  night,  a  feel- 
ing of  relief  at  being  again  out  of  the  woods,  as  it 
were,  sent  me  to  even  sounder  sleep  than  usual,  if 
such   a  thing  were   possible,   and  five    and   one-half 
hours  of  refreshing  slumber  put  sleep-hungry  brain 
and  body  in  better  trim,  and  gave  everything  a  very 
different    aspect.       During    this    march,  we    covered- 
eighteen     and    one-half    miles   over  a    snow   surface 
which,   as   we  marched  along,   every  now  and  then 
would  settle  slightly  beneath  our  weight,  with  a  sound 
reminding  me  of  the  swash  of  the  ground-swell  break- 
ing   in    calm    summer   days  on    the  beach    at    Sea- 
bri^rht  or   Lone  Branch,  or  on  long  white  Caribbean 
beaches,   backed  by  palms  wavermg  under  a  verti- 
cal sun.     The  next  day,  although  we  covered  nearly 
eighteen    miles,  both  Astrijp  and  myself  had  a  mild 
attack  of  the  blues,  partly  because  we  were  tired  out 
with  helping  the  dogs  all  day,  but  principally,  I  think, 
because   our    utmost  exertions  were  unsuccessful    in 
reaching  the  limit  of  twenty  miles.     The  next  day, 
however,  we  once  more  got  in  the  swim,  and  closed 
our  record,  that  night,  with  twenty  miles  and  a  half, 
land  being  visible  to  the  north-west,  north,  and  north- 
east all  day.     The  moral  effect  of  our  better  going 
and  better  speed  was  very  perceptible  both  on  our- 
selves and  our   dogs  ;   at   times  the  latter  would,  of 
themselves,    break  into    a    trot ;    and    we    had    been 
marching  but  a  short  time,  when  I  heard  Astriip  sing- 
ing merrily  as  he  kept  along  beside  the  sledge.      Dur- 


To  the  Northern  End  of  Greenland      317 

incr  this  march,  the  sun  seemed  unusually  ^vami  and 
towards  morning  even  sultry,  compellmg  us  to  throw 
off  all  outer  garments.  .  .  , 

The  following  day.  was  but  a  repetition  of  the  last, 
and  we   skipped  merrily  along  on  our  way  a    a  con- 
stant elevation  of  about  ^'^l^tl^^^^^^^^^^  {  ;,t%h.?e 
mountains  visible  to  the  north-west  nearly  all  the  tn  le 
and  towards  the  end  of  the  march  a  fP'-d  w  ^h  h^gh 
sharp  peaks  on  its  northern  side  coming  out  clearly 
in  the  north-west.      At   the   dose  of   this   march,  we 
ur  ed  "n  in  the  best  of  spirits.     We  had  again  made 
over  twen  y  miles,  and  there   was   every  indication 


BETTER  GOING. 


that  we  now  had  surmounted  all  obstacles  and  would 
have  plain  sailing  for  the  rest  of  our  journey.  Both 
our^efves  and  o^fr  dogs  were  in  the  ^^^^  oicon^:^^^n 
and  our  supplies  were  ample  for  a  good  long  adxance 
yet  The  temperature  had  become  so  high  that  a 
this  camp  I  seized  the  opportunity  to  take  another 
relreshing  snow  bath  and  discard  my  dogskin  and 
deerskin  suit  for  my  reserve  suit  of  sealskin. 

On  the  26th  of  June  we  were  descending  slightly. 
In  the  morning,  as  we  started,  heavy  wh^te  f  ud 
rovered  the  entire  sky,  except  a  narrow  ribbon  of  blue 
south  and  south-west.'   Our  course  was  north-east  true, 


3i8       Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 


but,  land  appearing  to  the  north-west,  north,  and  north- 
east soon  after  starting,  I  changed  the  course  to  east 
true.     The  entrance  to  a  fjord  with  precipitous  black 

shores  lay  north  north-west 
true  from  us.  As  we  advanced 
to  the  east,  the  clouds  increased 
in  density  and  a  light  driving 
snow  came  up  from  the  south- 
west, shrouding  the  ice  with 
that  shadowless  light  which 
makes  even  the  snow  beneath 
one's  feet  invisible.  I  kept 
^  on,    however,    still    keeping 

j^^^  my  course  by  the  wind,  until 

^^^^k  the    very  perceptible    descent 

^^^B  warned  me  from  past  experi- 

I^Hh  ences    to    halt    and    wait    for 

''     '   "  clearer   weather.      This    I    did 

after  a  march  of  ten  miles. 
When  the  snow  ceased  several 
hours  later,  the  land  loomed  up 
close  ahead  of  us,  with  the  de- 
pression of  the  fjord  beyond, 
and  had  I  continued  .blindly 
through  the  fog  I  should  have 
brought  up  right  in  the  head 
of  another  great  glacier.  Our 
next  march  to  the  south-east 
was  a  short  one,  only  ten  miles, 
and  nearly  parallel  with  the 
land.  Dark-brown  and  red  cliffs  looked  down  into  a 
grand  vertical-walled  caiion  reaching  up  towards  our 
camp  and  everywhere  north-west,  north,  and  east,  black 
and  dark-red  precipices,  deep  valleys,  mountains  capped 
with  cloud-shadowed  domes  of  ice,  stretched  away 
in  a  wild  panorama,  upon  which  no  human  eyes  had 


SETTING  THE  COURSE. 


To  the  Northern  End  of  Greenland     319 


ever  looked  before.  The  glorious  summer  calm  and 
warmth  of  the  last  three  days  were  now  accounted  for 
by  the  presence  of  so  much  surrounding  land. 

Assuming  the  fjord  ahead  of  me  to  be  Victoria 
Inlet,  and  thinking  that  I  could  round  it,  as  I  had 
already  rounded  Petermann,  St.  George's,  and  She- 
rard-Osborne  Fjords,  I  kept  away  to  the  south-east, 
parallel  with  the  edge  of  the  Inland  Ice  and  the  shore. 


» 


THE  NORTHERN  LAND. 

Nunataks  of  the  Academy  Glacier  to  the  Right. 

But  always  as  I  advanced,  the  mountains  of  the  shore 
grew  into  view  before  me,  keeping  me  constantly  to 
the  south-east,  till  the  1st  of  July.  On  that  day  a 
wide  opening,  bounded  on  either  side  by  high  vertical 
cliffs,  showed  up  in  the  north-east  over  the  summits 
immediately  adjacent  to  the  Inland  Ice. 

Through  this  opening  could  be  seen  neither  the  re- 
flected ice-blink  of  distant  ice-cap,  nor  the  cloud-loom 
of  land       I  had  no  further  time  to  waste  in  travelling 


320      Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

to  the  south-east,  in  which  direction  the  coast  land- 
ribbon  still  stretched  away  as  far  as  the  eye  could 
reach.  I  must  reach  this  opening  at  once  and  dis- 
cover if  it  looked  out  into  the  East-Greenland  Arctic 
Ocean,  or  whether  there  was  distant  ice-covered  land 
to  the  north-east,  which  might  still  be  reached  by 
rounding  the  head  of  the  fjord  far  to  the  south-east. 
Changing  my  course  to  north-east  true,  my  elevation 
at  the  time  being  some  five  thousand  feet  above  sea- 
level,  ski  and  sledges  and  dogs  sped  merrily  down 
the  constantly  increasing  gradient  of  the  ice-cap, 
straight  for  the  red-brown  mountains  of  the  strange 
land.  After  several  hours,  the  gradient  grew  so  steep 
that  it  became  necessary  to  descend  diagonally  along 
the  slope.  The  land,  though  yet  some  miles  away, 
seemed  as  if  at  our  very  feet,  and  as  if  we  might  easily 
throw  a  stone  upon  it. 

We  could  plainly  see  the  green  rivers  and  lakes 
along  the  margin  of  the  ice,  and  the  murmur  of  roar- 
ing cataracts  came  softly  to  our  ears. 

I  selected  the  highest  convex  of  a  crescent  moraine, 
which  climbed  well  up  into  the  ice-cap,  as  my  landing 
point,  and  after  wading  innumerable  streams,  and 
floundering  through  a  mile  of  slush,  which  covered 
the  lower  portion  of  the  landward  slope  of  the  ice,  we 
clambered  upon  the  confused  rocks  of  the  moraine, 
4000  feet  above  the  sea,  and  dragged  the  sledge 
up  high  and  dry.  Stopping  only  long  enough  to 
open  a  tin  of  pemmican  and  change  my  ski  for 
snow-shoes,  I  left  Astriip  to  look  after  the  dogs 
and  turn  in,  and  hastened  down  to  the  land  for  the 
purpose  of  climbing  a  summit  some  five  miles  from 
the  edge  of  the  ice,  which  apparently  commanded  a 
full  view  of  the  great  break  in  the  coast  ribbon.  A 
mile  or  more  of  slush,  a  two-hundred-foot  slide  down 
the  nearly  forty-five-degree  slope  of  the  extreme  edge 


To  the  Northern  End  of  Greenland     321 

of  the  ice,  and  my  feet  were  on  the  sharp,  chaos-strewn 
stones  which  cover  the  iceward  borders  of  this  land 
of  rock. 

The  fierce  July  sun,  though  but  a  little  past  the 
northern  meridian,  beat  down  upon  me  with  oppres- 
sive warmth.  Before  me,  the  warm  red-brown  land- 
scape wavered  and  trembled  in  the  yellow  light ;  behind 
me,  towered  the  blinding  white  slope  of  the  ice.  Be- 
neath my  feet,  the  stones  were  bare  even  of  lichens, 


THE  NORTHERN  MORAINE. 


and  had  a  dry,  grey  look,  as  if  they  were  the  bones  of 
a  dead  world. 

And  yet  I  felt  that  with  so  much  of  warmth  and 
richness  of  colouring  there  must  be  life,  and  sure 
enough,  hardly  had  I  gone  a  hundred  yards  from  the 
edge  of  the  ice  when  a  beautiful  little  black-and-white 
songster  fluttered  up  from  behind  a  rock,  hovered 
singing  almost  within  reach  above  my  head,  and  then 
settled  upon  a  bleak  stone  but  a  few  feet  distant  to 
finish  his  merry  song. 

As  I  went  on,  numbers  of  these  snow-buntings 
flitted  about  me,  and  hardly  had  I  gone  a  mile  before 


322       Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

my  heart  beat  quicker  at  the  sight  of  traces  of  musk- 
oxen.  As  I  got  farther  away  from  the  ice  and  in  the 
lee  of  the  gigantic  moraines  and  tumuh  of  glacial  de- 
bris, flowers  began  to  appear,  purple  and  white  and 
yellow,  among  them  my  ever-present  brilliant  yellow 
friend,  the  arctic  poppy. 

Still  travelling  along  towards  my  mountain,  with 
eyes  constantly  alert  for  musk-o.xen,  I  received  a  shock 
like  that  of  Crusoe  when  he  spied  the  footprints  on 


^^m^HHi^u^ 

■ 

■ 

■■■M 

W^^Mn^^ 

^^"^  A     *^^ 

l^p 

Wm 

r- 

,  %i 

-■'*^-  '■"•'■-'■  - 

M 

^Bfal^MlilBl'M^III   llllllll^llll  ■ 

ffjlflil"      1  \;.^aa: 

,„ „„, 

MUSK-OX   RENDEZVOUS. 


the  beach.  In  a  little  level  space,  sheltered  on  all 
sides,  was  a  large  angular  boulder  of  trap,  with  one  ver- 
tical face,  and  before  this  face  were  a  number  of  ir- 
regularly arranged  stones  in  a  rank  growth  of  vivid 
green  grass.  Throughout  all  the  inhabited  shores  of 
Greenland,  a  patch  of  luxuriant  grass  is  always  the 
sign  of  a  sometime  igloo,  and  it  was  with  peculiar 
feelings  that  I  hastened  to  the  spot. 

A  closer  examination  showed  the  place  to  be  a  musk- 


To  the  Northern  End  of  Greenland     323 

ox  rendezvous.  Bits  of  their  hair  and  wool  were  stick- 
ing to  the  rock  and  scattered  on  the  ground,  a  weather- 
worn skull  lay  a  few  yards  away,  and  the  unusual 
o-rowth  of  erass  was  due  to  the  presence  of  the  musk- 
oxen. 

From  this  point  on,  the  musk-ox  trails  were  as  thick 
as  sheep  paths  in  a  New  England  pasture  ;  and  know- 
ing the  sagacity  of  these  animals  in  the  selection  of 
a  "favourable  route,  I  was  glad  to  make  use  of  their 
paths.  But  my  mountain  seemed  to  recede  as  I  ad- 
vanced, and  it  was  eight  hours  before  I  reached  its 
summit,  only  to  find  that  two  or  three  other  summits 
intervened  between  me  and  the  full  view  out,  through 
the  fault  in  the  coast  line. 

The  five  miles  of  apparent  distance  had  lengthened 
out  to  at  least  twelve  miles  of  actual  distance,  and 
most  men,  less  accustomed  to  estimating  distance  than 
I  had  been,  would  have  called  it  considerably  more. 

I  was  strongly  tempted  to  go  on  still  farther,  but 
the  condition  of  my  foot-gear  precluded  it.  The  soles 
of  both  kamiks  were  already  cut  through,  and  one  or 
two  edges  of  sharp  rocks  had  even  reached  and  cut 
my  feet.  It  was  even  questionable  whether  I  could 
fix  up  my  foot-gear  to  enable  me  to  get  back  without 
more  or  less  serious  injury  to  my  feet. 

With  the  assistance  of  a  pair  of  sealskin  mittens 
and  a  knit  skull-cap,  I  patched  up  my  foot-gear,  and 
after  an  hour's  rest,  started  on  my  return  to  the  camp 
on  the  moraine. 

Long  before  I  reached  the  edge  of  the  ice,  I  was 
obliged  to  add  to  the  protection  of  my  feet  such  por- 
tions of  my  garments  as  I  could  spare,  and  it  was  with 
the  feelings  of  one  who  is  suddenly  relieved  from  an 
excruciating  toothache,  that  1  stepped  from  the  ragged 
rocks  upon  the  Inland  Ice  and  strapped  on  my  snow- 
shoes. 


324       Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

As  I  neared  the  moraine,  I  saw  Astriip  perched  on 
its  summit  looking  anxiously  for  me,  for  I  had  been 
gone  fifteen  hours  instead  of  four  or  five,  as  intended 
when  I  started. 

I  found  my  dinner,  lunch,  breakfast,  whatever  it 
might  be  called,  of  tea,  pemmican,  and  biscuit,  ready 
for  me,   and  when    1    had  satisfied  my   hunger  and 


MY  PADDED  KAMIKS. 

Stretched  myself  out  on  the  rocks  to  sleep,  it  seemed 
as  if  never  before  had  I  been  so  sore  and  tired.  I 
had  been  travelling  and  climbing  for  twenty-three 
hours,  and  I  felt,  to  a  marked  degree,  the  change  from 
the  dry,  cold  atmosphere  of  the  Inland  Ice  to  the 
moister  and  almost  torrid  atmosphere  of  the  land. 
More  than  this,  my  reconnaissance  had  failed  of  its 
object,  and  it  would  now  be  necessary  for  Astriip  and 


To  the  Northern  End  of  Greenland      325 

myself  to  take  the  dogs  and  three  or  four  days'  sup- 
plies and  march  overland  to  whatever  distance  might 
be  necessary  to  give  me  the  unobstructed,  definite 
outlook  which  I  must  have. 

After  a  few  hours'  sleep,  we  made  up  our  packs,  and 
myself  in  the  lead,  Astriip  following  with  the  dogs,  I 
started  once  more  to  wrest  its  secret  from  this  tanta- 
lising land. 


CHAPTER  XII. 


NORTHERNMOST    GREENLAND. 

We  Skt  out  for  the  Red  Hills  and  Valleys — Our  Dogs  Glad  to 
Reach  Terra  Firma — Very  Rough  Travelling  over  the  Sharp  Stones 
— Sighting  Musk-Oxen  at  Last — I  Kill  Two  of  the  Animals  and 
Capture  One  Alive — A  Feast  of  Musk-Ox  Steaks — The  Last  Summit 
between  us  and  the  Sea — A  Glorious  Panorama  as  we  Emerge  upon 
A  Giant  Cliff — An  Ice-Covered  Bay  3800  Feet  below  us — Eastward 
the  Arctic  Sea  Expands  to  the  Horizon— We  had  Traced  the  North 
Coast  of  the  Mainland — The  Bluffs  and  Channels  Farther  North 
— A  Never-to-be-Forgotten  Fourth  of  July. 


> 
> 

< 
z 


CHAPTER  XII. 


NORTHERNMOST    GREENLAND. 


IT  was  a  bright,  beau- 
tiful day  when  we 
arose  on  the  morning 
of  July  3,  1892.  Though 
on  the  previous  day  I  had 
not  caught  a  glimpse  of 
the  sea,  and  the  mystery  of 
dark-red  land  before  us 
was  a  mystery  still,  I  felt 
that  the  next  twenty-four, 
or  forty-eight  hours  at 
most,  would  make  all 
clear  to  us,  and  that  we  should  stand  on  the  borders 
of  the  Arctic  Ocean,  and,  from  some  vantage-ground 
on  the  north-east  coast  of  Greenland,  look  northward 
over  the  broad  expanse  of  sea.  Still  I  might  be  mis- 
taken, and  the  coast  might  be  much  farther  north — 
too  far  away  for  us  to  attain  it  carrying,  as  we  were 
compelled  to,  every  ounce  of  our  provisions  and 
equipment  on  our  backs. 

I  was  too  anxious  to  enjoy  the  glory  of  the  morn- 
ing fully.  If,  as  I  had  for  some  days  suspected,  this 
channel  actually  stretched  from  Lincoln  Sea  to  the 
Arctic  Ocean  on  the  north-east  coast  of  Greenland, 
was   I  to  fail  now  to  fathom  its  secret  and  take  home 


329 


33^        Northward  over  the  "  Great  Ice  " 

the  news  that  the  northern  extension  of  the  mainland 
had  at  last  been  found  ?  It  was  certain  that  we  had 
no  reserve  of  provisions  that  would  warrant  us  in 
making  any  considerable  sojourn  in  the  region  to 
which  we  had  attained  ;  nor  if  a  half-ton  of  supplies 
had  been  packed  on  our  sledge  could  we  carry  more 
than  a  very  few  days'  rations  on  our  backs  over  the 
boulder-strewn  waste  before  us. 


f^ 


.-jt. '. 


/    <ft  .-  Jb-'*^     >*■ 


m 


JB^M^ 


DAWN  OVER  THE  ROCKS. 


The  sun  was  shining  brilliantly  upon  the  dazzling 
white  of  the  ice-cap  behind  us.  Its  genial  rays  were 
searching  out  and  lighting  up  the  hilltops  and  the 
deepest  valleys  of  the  land  towards  which  our  faces 
were  turned,  and  which  we  were  about  to  traverse. 
The  temperature  was  that  of  a  balmy  day  in  early 
April  in  lands  far  south  of  the  Arctic  circle.  I  knew 
it  would  be  very  warm  below.  Innumerable  patches 
of  snow  dotted  the  landscape  north  of  us,  but  they  did 


Northernmost  Greenland 


331 


not  cover  a  hundredth  part  of  the  great  area  we  saw 
stretching  away  before  us. 

Our  dogs  were  wild  with  deUght  and  expressed  their 
emotions  most  vociferously.  They  saw  the  land 
before  them  and  were  eager  to  reach  it.  They  were 
to  accompany  us  in  our  tramp,  for  of  course  we  could 
not  leave  them  behind.  So  we  gave  them  a  rather 
meagre  breakfast  and  at  seven  o'clock  in  the  morning 
we  started.  If  the  dogs  had  been  gifted  with  sufficient 
sense  I  think  they  would  keenly  have  appreciated  the 


EXHAUSTED  WITH  THE   HEAT. 

changed  conditions  that  had  suddenly  occurred.  We 
were^'now  the  beasts  of  burden  and  they  were  com- 
paratively free.  Our  equipment  and  supplies  for  four 
days,  with  instruments,  rifle,  camera,  and  a  very  few 
extras  intended  to  give  special  distinction  to  our 
Fourth-of-July  dinner,  made  a  load  of  about  forty 
pounds  each  for  Astriip  and  myself. 

Starting  out  from  Moraine  Camp,  we  had  to  walk 
and  slip  about  four  hundred  feet  down  the  landward 
slope  of  the  ice,  which  stretched  away  for  upward  of 
a  mile  before   its    foot   rested  on  terra  firma.     We 


332        Northward  over  the  "  Great  Ice  " 

found  the  travelling  even  more  difficult  than  it  had 
been  the  day  before,  partly  because  we  were  heavy- 
laden,  and  also  because  the  sun  had  still  further  soft- 
ened the  snow.  Azure-blue  streams  rushed  through 
the  semi-liquid  slush,  as  we  made  our  way  towards  the 
land,  till  we  came  to  the  crest  of  the  immediate  edge 
of  the  ice.  Down  this  we  slipped  and  scrambled  as 
best  we  could,  tripping  and  tangling  in  the  traces  of 
our  dogs,  which  were  wild  to  reach  the  land.  I  was 
surprised  to  see  the  effect  of  this  constant  July  sun. 
Close  to  the  land,  where  a  few  hours  previous  I  had 
travelled  without  difficulty  on  my  snow-shoes,  there 
was  now  a  rushing  river  which  we  were  obliged  to 
ford.  Some  glacial  lake,  far  up  the  ice,  dammed  in 
by  the  deep  snow,  had  burst  its  banks,  and,  rushing 
down  to  the  canon  between  the  rocks  and  the  edge  of 
the  ice,  had  swept  everything  clear,  down  to  the  hard, 
blue  crystal  ice.  The  rushing  water,  mid-thigh  deep, 
the  slippery  ice  in  the  bottom  of  the  stream,  and  the 
antics  of  our  dogs,  which,  hesitating  at  first  to  enter  the 
water,  would,  when  urged,  make  a  rush  for  the  opposite 
side,  made  the  crossing  of  the  stream  precarious.  We 
succeeded,  however,  in  getting  over  without  a  thorough 
wetting,  and  scrambled  up  on  the  rocks. 

My  path  of  the  day  before  was  followed  along  the 
summits  and  through  the  little  valleys,  and  after  a 
march  of  five  hours  we  stopped  beside  a  beautiful  shal- 
low stream,  starting  from  a  great  snow-bank  far  up  the 
ravine,  and  emptying  below  us  into  a  mirror-like  lake, 
from  which  a  foaming  cataract  dashed  to  the  crevasses 
of  the  glacier  below.  After  lunch,  as  we  advanced, 
we  saw  several  musk-o.x  skeletons.  On  every  hill  and 
in  every  valley  we  were  finding  traces  of  musk-oxen, 
but  as  yet  we  had  seen  no  living  specimens.  With 
the  utmost  eagerness  we  scanned  every  new  prospect 
for  the  coveted  animals  ;  for  we  knew  that  musk-oxen 


Northernmost  Greenland 


JOO 


meant    fresh    meat    for    ourselves,  and  an   abundant 
supply  of  food  for  our  dogs. 

We  followed  the  musk-ox  trails  as  far  as  the)-  went 
in  the  direction  in  which  we  wished  to  go.  Then,  to 
reach  the  summit  where  I  had  been  the  day  before,  I 
decided  to  try  a  different  route,  and  one  that  was  ap- 
parently easier.  As  luck  would  have  it,  it  was  in- 
finitely worse,  and,  burdened  with  our  packs  and  the 
does,  it  seemed  as  if  we  never  should  reach  the  top. 


SOURCE  OF  THE  ACADEMY  GLACIER. 

From  this  summit  we  kept  along  the  crest  of  the  range 
of  rock-strewn  mountains,  parallel  with  the  great 
glacier  east  of  us. 

A  region  of  such  utter  barrenness  I  never  saw  be- 
fore. The  arctic  poppy  was  the  only  flower  that 
could  find  a  footing.  Upon  a  surface  of  small,  angu- 
lar stones,  compressed  and  half  cemented  together  by 
the  enormous  pressure  of  superincumbent  ice-fields 
ages  ago,  were  strewn  larger  loose  fragments,  singly, 


334        Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 


in  piles,  and  in  long  moraines  ;  and  yet,  even  here, 
traces  of  musk-oxen  were  abundant,  as  if  it  were  one 
of  their  favourite  haunts.  After  ten  hours'  marching, 
rendered  doubly  severe  by  the  enervating  effect  of 
the  high  temperature,  we  halted  for  rest  between  a 
mound  of  boulders  and  a  snow-drift,  and,  throwing  up 
a  wind-guard  of  stones,  turned  in  to  sleep.  The  con- 
stant scrambling  over  sharp  rocks  of  all  sizes  had  been 
extremely  trying  to  Astriip  and  myself.     The  fatigue 


NUNATAKS  OF  THE   ACADEMY   GLACIER. 

of  climbing  with  our  heavy  packs  and  hampered  by 
the  dogs  was  greatly  increased  by  the  debilitating  in- 
fluence of  what  seemed  to  us  an  almost  tropical  tem- 
perature, accustomed  as  we  had  become  to  the  clear, 
cold,  searching  atmosphere  of  the  Inland  Ice  ;  and  the 
terrible  travellino-  over  the  sflacial  tumuli  and  mor- 
aines  had  been  exceedingly  severe  upon  our  foot-gear 
and  our  muscles. 

We  had  now  advanced  far  enough  on  our  way  down 


Northernmost  Greenland 


335 


the  valleys  and  over  the  mountains  to  descry  very 
distant  land  beyond  what  appeared  to  be  the  head- 
lands of  a  fjord.  But  we  were  too  far  away  to  see  all 
this  clearly.  The  mystery  of  the  region  still  remained 
a  mystery  ;  and  we  were  to  sleep  again  before  we  dis- 
covered that  the  distant  land  we  saw  was  islands  be- 
yond the  mainland  of  Greenland.  We  were  very 
footsore  as  we  threw  ourselves  on  the  ground  behind 


WAVE-MARKED  SANDSTONE. 

Found  3000  Feet  above  Sea-Kevel. 

our  shelter  of  stones  ;  but  we  were  not  too  tired  to 
sleep  the  sleep  of  the  just,  during  the  five  hours  we 
allotted  to  rest  before  we  shouldered  our  packs  and 
set  out  again,  looking  as  eagerly  for  musk-oxen  as  for 
discoveries  of  geographical  interest. 

I  was  somewha't  worried  about  my  dogs.  They 
had  felt  the  heat  even  more  than  Astriip  and  myself ; 
and  one  of  them,  Pau,  my  leader  and  bravest  dog 
since  the  loss  of   Nalegaksoah,  was    quite   ill.     Pau 


33^        Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

was  a  little  smaller  than  Nalegaksoah,  his  brother, 
and  like  him  a  born  fighter.  In  all  his  combats,  the 
latter  stood  by,  and  if  (as  rarely  happened)  the  odds 
were  against  Pau,  one  shake  of  Nalegaksoah's  massive 
jaws  would  turn  the  tables  in  his  favour.  Pau  was  an 
expert  at  slipping  his  harness,  and  more  than  once  I 
have  seen  him,  when  he  thought  no  one  was  watching, 
go  through  the  operation  as  methodically  as  one 
would  take  off  a  coat.  Then  for  a  forage, — for  some- 
thing to  eat.  Never  would  Pau  get  many  yards  away, 
however,  before  Nalegaksoah's  powerful  deep  voice 
would  give  notice  of  the  fact,  and  with  two  or  three 
powerful  efforts  he  would  break  his  harness  or  trace 
and  be  at  the  side  of  his  comrade.  I  had  now  eight 
dogs,  and  felt  sure  of  obtaining  musk-oxen  for 
them  while  we  were  down  in  the  valley.  Yet  I 
had  laid  my  plans,  in  the  event  of  not  getting  musk- 
oxen,  to  sacrifice  one  of  the  dogs  for  the  subsist- 
ence of  the  rest.  It  troubled  me  seriously  to  think 
that  Pau,  if  he  should  continue  to  be  sick,  would,  of 
necessity,  be  the  victim.  When  we  resumed  our  packs 
and  started  on  again,  the  dogs  were  evidently  much 
exhausted,  and  I  had  an  additional  source  of  worry  in 
the  fear  that  some  of  them  would  break  their  legs  in 
clambering  over  the  angular  blocks  of  stone.  Every 
dog  was  to  us  more  precious  far  than  the  most  valued 
pieces  of  horse-flesh  in  the  land  we  had  come  from. 

As  we  advanced,  summit  after  summit  rose  tanta- 
lisingly  before  us,  still  masking  from  our  view  the 
coveted  sight  of  the  great  bay  which  I  now  had  no 
doubt  lay  before  us,  hidden  perhaps  between  tower- 
ing cliffs  that  walled  it  round.  Still  with  every  step 
as  we  went  on  we  eagerly  examined  all  the  slopes 
and  ravines  for  musk-oxen.  Arain  and  as^ain,  some 
laro-e  black  boulder  would  efive  us  a  thrill  of  excite- 
ment,  only  to  pass  away  again.     At  last,  however,  as 


Northernmost  Greenland 


^3il 


we  were  slowly  and  painfully  creeping  down  the  slope 
of  an  ancient  moraine,  two  black  objects  were  spied 
across  the  valley.  As  we  looked,  the  space  between 
them  narrowed.  There  could  be  no  doubt  this  time. 
They  were  musk-oxen,  and  I  stooped  to  pat  Pau's 
head  and  speak  a  word  of  encouragement  to  the  noble 


MY  FIRST  MUSK-OXEN. 


dog,  for  I  knew  fresh  meat  would  restore  the  brilliancy 
to  his  dull  eyes  and  save  his  life. 

As  quickly  as  possible,  we  crept  behind  the  crest  of 
a  hill,  restraining  every  symptom  of  a  howl  or  cry 
from  anv  of  the  dogs,  and  then  worked  along  towards 
the  feeding  animals.  Just  this  side  of  them  was  a 
deep  ravine,  traversed  by  a  glacial  stream,  one  arm 
of  which  branched  up  near  where  we  were.  Once 
between   the  high  banks  of  this,  we  hurried  rapidly 


338        Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

along  till  within  less  than  half  a  mile  of  the  oxen. 
Here  I  divested  myself  of  my  pack,  and  left  Astriip 
and  the  dogs,  while  I  crept  on  down  the  ravine  to  a 
point  close  to  the  game.  Reaching  this,  I  climbed 
carefully  up  the  bank,  and  looked  cautiously  over. 
There  they  were  lying  down,  less  than  a  hundred 
yards  away.  One  was  entirely  quiet,  but  the  other 
turned  his  head  in  my  direction  as  I  coughed  in  my 
excitement.  My  crippled  leg  had  thrown  me  out  of 
all  the  deer  hunts  about  Red  Cliff,  and  lack  of  prac- 
tice and  the  nature  of  the  game  before  me  gave  me 
the  severest  kind  of  buck  fever.  As  I  raised  my 
Winchester,  it  was  with  the  utmost  difficulty  that  1 
could  keep  the  sight  on  that  great  shaggy  head.  I 
pulled  the  trigger,  and  heard  the  bullet  reach  the 
mark  somewhere.  Then  I  rose  and  ran  forward,  to 
be  as  near  as  possible  for  a  snap  shot  should  the 
animal  run.  Much  to  my  surprise,  as  I  appeared  on 
the  scene,  he  rose  leisurely  and  advanced  towards  me, 
as  if  to  see  what  might  be  the  trouble.  A  second  shot 
point-blank  staggered  and  discouraged  him,  and  he 
turned  away,  giving  me  the  desired  shot  back  of  the 
fore  shoulders.  As  he  fell,  the  other  rose  leisurely, 
exposing,  as  he  did  so,  the  same  fatal  spot.  I  could 
hardly  credit  my  good  luck  as  I  rushed  forward  to 
examine  more  closely  the  great  masses  of  long  black 
hair  and  soft  brown  wool  lying  there  upon  the  rocks. 
Familiar  with  descriptions  and  pictures  of  the  musk- 
ox,  I  had  yet  obtained  no  true  conception  of  the  ap- 
pearance of  these  strange  denizens  of  the  farthest 
north.  The  ones  before  me  were  plump  and  rotund 
with  the  luxuriant  vegetation  of  the  little  meadow 
spot  in  which  I  had  found  them ;  they  were  just 
shedding  their  heavy  winter  coats  of  wool,  and  this, 
as  it  worked  out  through  the  long  coarse  black  hair 
of  the  summer  coat,  fell  to  the  ground  on  either  side, 


Northernmost  Greenland 


jj9 


giving  the  animal  an  appearance  of  size  greatly  in  ex- 
cess of  the  reality.  This,  with  their  slow,  sedate 
movements,  made  an  impression  which  I  shall  never 
forget.  As  I  started  back  to  bring  up  Astriip  and 
the  dogs,  my  eye  was  attracted  by  a  small  black  ob- 
ject a  hundred  yards  or  more  to  one  side.  Hastening 
to  it,  I  found  the  strangest,  queerest  little  object, — 


MUSK-OX  SHEDDING  WINTER  COAT. 

a  young  musk-calf.  Poor  little  thing,  it  had  been 
taking  a  promenade  while  its  parents  enjoyed  their 
afternoon  siesta,  and  was  all  unconscious  of  the  mis- 
fortune that  had  befallen  them.  I  picked  it  up,  car- 
ried it  back  to  the  others,  and  tethered  its  feet  with 
the  sling  of  my  carbine.  Then  I  went  back  to  Astrijp. 
I  found  him  (as  well  as  the  dogs)  nearly  wild  with 
excitement.      At  my  first  shot,  he  had  climbed  out  of 


& 


340        Northward  over  the  "  Great  Ice  " 

his  place  of  concealment  to  watch  the  affair,  and  al- 
ready knew  of  my  good  fortune.  Childish  as  it  may 
seem,  I  went  to  my  dogs,  patted  each  on  the  head, 
and  told  them  of  the  feast  in  store  for  them. 

Sharp  stones  and  weary  shoulders  were  now  for- 
gotten as  we  hastened  to  where  the  fallen  musk-oxen 
lav.  The  dogs  were  fastened  just  below  the  bank 
and  out  of  sight  of  the  carcasses,  in  order  to  keep 
them  from  becoming  unmanageable.  Then  I  took 
my  camera  and  photographed  the  new  specimens. 
This  done,  we  immediately  began  skinning  one.  It 
was  but  a  short  time  before  we  had  a  huge  hind  quarter 
skinned  and  cut  off,  and  I  was  hurrying  down  to  my 
dogs  with  it.  When  I  first  saw  them  they  were  all 
asleep,  exhausted  with  the  heat  and  difficult  travelling. 

Miss  Tahwana,  always  on  the  alert,  was  the  first  to 
see  me  and  greet  my  approach  with  a  joyful  yelp. 
This  brought  Lion  to  his  feet  and  wakened  all  the 
rest.  For  a  moment  they  did  not  understand,  then 
as  it  dawned  upon  them  that  I  was  bringing  them 
meat — raw,  fresh,  warm,  bloody  meat,  which  they 
had  not  tasted  for  many  a  weary  day, — the  air  was 
filled  with  their  joyful  cries  of  anticipation.  Even 
Pau  resumed  his  wonted  position,  and  crowded  to  the 
front  for  the  first  and  choicest  piece.  A  few  moments 
later  only  the  bones  were  left,  one  in  the  possession 
of  Pau,  the  other  guarded  by  Lion. 

Then  I  went  back  to  help  Astriip  finish  the  work. 
An  hour  or  two  later,  having  skinned  both  carcasses 
and  removed  the  hind  quarters  and  sirloins  for  our 
own  use,  Astrup  and  myself  took  one  of  the  car- 
casses, and,  carrying  it  between  us,  took  it  down  to 
the  dogs.  Again  the  same  wild  excitement  as  we  ap- 
proached. Stopping  just  outside  the  limit  of  their 
traces,  we  gave  the  body  a  swing  and  tossed  it  in 
among  the  pack.    The  next  instant  it  was  covered  from 


Northernmost  Greenland 


341 


view  by  the  shaggy  forms  and  tense,  straining  Hmbs  of 
a  pack  of  ravenous  wolves.  The  eager  yelps  and  howls 
were  silenced,  and  only  the  crunching  of  bones  and  an 
occasional  low  growl  could  be  heard.  Savage  as  was 
the  sight,  I  sat  down  on  a  stone  near  by  to  watch 
the  feast  of  my  faithful  companions.  Wild  and  eager 
as  they  were,  they  were  still  amenable  to   my  voice, 


ROYAL  BANQUET  OF  MY  DOGS. 

for  when  Lion  freed  himself  from  his  harness  in  his 
violent  exertions,  I  pulled  him  away  from  his  banquet, 
and  at  a  word  he  crouched  obedient  at  my  feet,  till 
I  replaced  his  harness.  Lion,  the  thick-furred,  long- 
maned,  white  leader  of  the  Cape-York  team,  had  been 
my  favourite  until  Nalegaksoah  appeared  on  the  scene, 
and  he  was  alwaj's  the  veteran  sledge-dog  and  team- 
leader  on  the  march.      He  was  the  most  experienced 


342       Northward  over  the  "  Great  Ice  " 

and  the  toughest  of  my  dogs.  Never  did  he  get 
tangled  in  his  traces.  Never  did  he  attempt  to  eat 
his  harness.  Never,  except  in  this  single  instance 
during  his  gastronomic  ecstasies  over  the  carcass  of 
the  musk-ox,  had  I  known  him  to  get  out  of  his 
harness.  But,  as  Astriip  said,  Lion  was  no  enthusiast 
and  his  bump  of  affection  was  not  largely  developed. 
When  my  eager  wolves  had  finished,  only  the  white 
and  broken  bones  of  the  musk-ox  were  left.  Every- 
thing eatable  had  disappeared,  and  the  dogs  were 
filled  almost  to  bursting. 

In  the  meantime,  Astriip,  boy-like  and  Crusoe-like, 
with  his  ever-present  artistic  sense  of  the  fitness  of 
things,  had  found  near  by  a  grass-covered,  flower-be- 
sprinkled bit  of  soil,  close  to  a  little  stream,  and  there 
had  spread  the  musk-ox  skins,  and  rigged  up  a  light 
cotton  sail  which  we  carried,  into  a  kitchen,  or  shelter 
for  the  alcohol  stove.  Here  he  invited  me  to  come 
and  stretch  myself  on  the  luxurious  fur  couch  while 
he  proceeded  to  broil  some  musk-ox  steaks.  How 
delicious  they  were  !  Astriip  could  hardly  broil  them 
fast  enough  to  supply  the  demand.  Sweet  and  tender 
and  juicy,  they  far  excelled  anything  of  the  kind  that 
it  was  ever  my  good  fortune  to  taste.  Weariness  and 
foot-soreness,  all  vanished  for  the  time  under  the 
magic  of  an  abundant  supply  of  fresh  meat  for  my 
dogs  and  a  fine  dinner  for  ourselves. 

It  would  have  been  suicidal  to  have  attempted  to 
make  our  dogs  travel  immediately  after  their  recent 
feast,  and  as  I  did  not  wish  to  leave  them  here,  it  was 
necessary  that  we  should  wait  several  hours  until  they 
were  in  condition  to  move.  We  improved  the  oppor- 
tunity to  snatch  a  little  sleep,  and  both  men  and  beasts 
were  wonderfully  refreshed  by  the  time  we  started 
again  on  our  tramp.  A  few  more  summits  rose  before 
us,  but   at   last   there  could    be   no   further  question. 


Northernmost  Greenland 


">  ,1  -> 


The  next  one  would  surely  give  us  the    long-desired 


view. 


Eagerly  we  climbed  the  ragged  slope,  over  ragged 
rocks  and  through  drifts  of  heavy,  wet  snow.  The 
summit  was  reached.  A  few  steps  more,  and  the  rocky 
plateau  on  which  we  stood  dropped  in  a  giant  iron 
wall,  that  would  grace  the  Inferno,  3800  feet  to  the 
level  of  the  bay  below  us.  We  stood  upon  the  north- 
east coast   of  Greenland  ;  and,  looking  far  of?    over 


CAMP  MUSK-OX. 

the  surface  of  a  mighty  glacier  on  our  right  and 
through  the  broad  mouth  of  the  bay,  we  saw  stretching 
away  to  the  horizon  the  great  ice-fields  of  the  Arctic 
Ocean.  We  had  travelled  twenty-six  miles  in  a  north- 
easterly direction  from  Moraine  Camp,  where  we  had 
left  our  sledge. 

From  the  edge  of  the  towering  cliff  on  which  we 
stood,  and  in  the  clear  light  of  the  brilliant  summer 
day,  the  view  that  spread  away  before  us  was  magnifi- 


344       Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

cent  beyond  description.  Silently  Astriip  and  myself 
took  off  our  packs  and  seated  ourselves  upon  them  to 
fix  in  memory  every  detail  of  the  never-to-be-forgotten 
scene  before  us.  All  our  fatieues  of  six  weeks'  struo-ale 
over  the  ice-cap  were  forgotten  in  the  grandeur  of  that 
view. 

Our    observation    point    was    a   giant  cliff,  almost 


VIEW  FROM  NAVY  CLIFF. 


vertical,  overlooking  the  bay  and  a  great  glacier  that 
entered  the  bay  on  our  right.  We  thought  we  had 
left  the  Inland  Ice  behind  us,  but  here  was  a  mighty 
ice-stream,  one  of  the  largest  we  had  seen  in  Greenland, 
that  had  pushed  out  from  the  ice-cap  to  find  the  sea. 
Looking  over  our  ncrht  shoulder  to  the  south-east,  we 
could  see,  beyond  the  thousand  red  boulders  in  the 
foreground,   and  through  a  depression  in  the  hills. 


Northernmost  Greenland  345 

the  middle  course  of  the  broad  ice-river  glistening  in 
the  sun. 

Across  the  glacier,  bounding  the  fjord  on  the  east, 
rose  a  long  line  of  precipitous,  bronzed  cliffs,  higher 
even  than  the  one  on  which  we  stood,  and  projecting 
several  miles  farther  out  into  the  bay.  They  rose 
four  thousand  or  more  feet  in  sheer  height  above  the 
glacier,  and  terminated  in  a  grim  promontory  sloping 
steeply  to  the  water.  On  their  huge  shoulders  these 
wild  cliffs  supported  a  great  projecting  tongue  of  the 
Inland  Ice.  Some  fifteen  miles  north-east  of  where  we 
stood,  these  cliffs  ended  in  a  bold  cape  which  I  named 
Glacier  Cape.  Dark  clouds  seen  over  and  beyond  the 
ice-cap  on  these  cliffs  seemed  to  indicate  that  the  shore- 
line trended  rapidly  away  to  the  east  or  south-east. 

Stretching  out  beyond  that  cape,  and  more  than 
fifteen  miles  north  of  Observation  Point,  as  I  named 
the  spot  where  we  stood,  we  could  trace  the  periphery 
of  the  big  glacier,  whose  fan-shaped  face  rested  at  one 
end  on  Glacier  Cape,  and  at  the  other  on  a  promon- 
tory several  miles  north-west  of  us.  I  estimated  that 
the  periphery  of  this  fan-shaped  face  of  the  glacier 
was  fully  twenty  miles  or  more  in  length.  The  glacier 
seemed  to  have  little  or  no  vertical  face,  but  almost 
to  blend  with  the  bay  ice.  This  appearance  may, 
however,  have  been  due  to  our  elevation  and  distance. 

Looking  to  the  west,  we  saw  the  opening  of  the 
fjord  that  had  barred  our  northern  advance.  It  was 
this  fjord  whose  western  entrance  we  had  descried 
afar  off  days  before.  Now  we  knew  that  we  had 
paralleled  its  course  across  the  northern  end  of  the 
mainland  from  Robeson  Channel  clear  to  the  Arctic 
Ocean  off  the  shores  of  north-east  Greenland.  For 
days  we  had  kept  constantly  in  view  the  mountain 
masses  forming  the  southern  boundary  of  this  channel, 
and  through  rifts  in  the  mountains  we  had  from  time 


Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice 


ACADEMY  GLACIER  AND  INDE- 
PENDENCE  BAY. 


to  time  seen  this  depres- 
sion, and  had  now  and 
then  caught  glimpses  of 
the  frozen  channel  oc- 
cupying it ;  and  we  had 
seen  beyond  it  mount- 
ains and  fjords  stretch- 
ing between  them.  It 
was  evident  that  this 
channel  marked  the 
northern  boundary  of 
the  mainland  of  Green- 
land. 

To  the  north-west, 
north,  and  north-east 
stretched  steep  red- 
brown  bluffs  on  the 
other  side  of  the  bay, 
with  a  flat  fore-shore 
reaching  to  the  water's 
edge  ;  and  we  could 
make  out  to  the  north- 
ward the  entrance  of  a 
second  fjord  or  channel 
extending  apparently  to 
the  north-westward. 
The  resemblance  of 
these  blufTs  to  that  shore 
of  McCormick  Bay 
wliich  formed  our  head- 
quarters was  very  strik- 
ing. Close  at  hand  a 
single  isolated  ice-cap 
crested  these  bluffs,  but 
disappeared  in  the  mid- 
dle distance  ;  and,   be- 


Northernmost  Greenland  347 

yond  that,  the  shores  which  stretched  far  away  to  the 
north-east  were  free  of  snow,  and  the  summits  free  of 
ice-caps.  On  the  west  side  of  the  fjord  opening  were 
numerous  httle  islands.  There  is  every  reason  to 
believe  that  to  the  north-west,  north,  and  north-east 
we  were  gazing  upon  an  archipelago  whose  western 
limits  Lockwood  had  discovered  in  1882. 

At  our  feet,  beyond  the  great  fan-shaped  peripherj- 
of  our  big  glacier,  were  scattered  many  icebergs 
prisoned  in  the  still  unbroken  surface  of  the  bay  ice. 
Beyond  this,  the  bay  ice  seemed  perfectly  smooth  and 
unbroken,  and  stretched  away  uninterrupted  to  the 
distant  white  horizon  of  the  north-eastern  Arctic 
Ocean.  We  could  distinctly  discern  the  broad  expanse 
of  the  ice-covered  sea,  but  the  distance  was  too  great 
for  us  to  make  out  any  details  of  the  surface.  The 
most  distant  land  we  could  make  out,  far  to  the  north- 
east, looking  over  the  point  of  Glacier  Cape,  must 
have  been  sixty  miles  away.  It  seemed  to  be  flat- 
topped  and  there  was  no  ice-cap  on  it. 

Far  out  in  the  centre  of  the  bay,  we  could  make 
out  a  clouded  appearance,  undoubtedly  due  to  the 
formation  of  water  pools  upon  the  surface  of  the  ice, 
the  first  signs  of  approaching  disintegration.  But 
we  could  see  no  signs  of  cracks  in  the  distant  bay 
ice  ;  and  we  looked  in  vain  for  any  signs  of  ice-cap 
on  the  lands  w^est  and  north-west  of  our  point  of  view. 

I  could  now  understand  the  feelings  of  Balboa  as 
he  climbed  the  last  jealous  summit  which  hid  from 
his  eager  eyes  the  blue  waves  of  the  mighty  Pacific. 

As  we  took  in  this  wide-spreading  panorama  from 
our  point  of  vantage  over  three-fifths  of  a  mile  above 
the  bay  ice,  the  sound  of  a  cataract  came  up  to  us 
from  far  below,  and  I  was  surprised  to  hear  the 
familiar  drone  of  a  Inimble-bee.  We  soon  caught 
sio-ht  of  the  insect,  which  lingered  in  our  neighbour- 


348       Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 


hood  for  some  time.  The  flies  that  buzzed  around 
us  were  altogether  too  numerous  to  count.  The  day 
was  delightfully  warm  and  calm. 

Our  silent  contemplation  of  the  sublime  view  at 
an  end,  I  opened  the  bo.\  containing  my  transit,  and 
set  it  firmly  among  the  rocks  to  make  my  observa- 
tions for  position.  The  interims  between  these  obser- 
vations (  equal 
altitudes  from 
three  hours  be- 
fore local  noon  to 
three  hours  after- 
wards) gave  time 
for  a  round  of 
photographic 
views  and  notes 
upon  our  sur- 
roundings, and  to 
begin  the  con- 
struction of  the 
cairn,  which 
should  be  in  the 
coming  )ears  the 
silent  record  of 
our  visit  there. 
The  result  of  the 
observations  was 
the  fixing  of  the 
position  of  Ob- 
servation Point 
as  8i°  37'  5"  north 
latitude  and  34°  5' 

THE  STARS  AND  STRIPES  AT  NAVY  CLIFF.         ^^     ™  ^i 

T  ,       ,a  ,  1  he     observa- 

July  4,  iSg2.  c     ■   I     J       T 

tions  finished,    1 
brought  out  the  little  silver   flask  of   brandy  which 


Northernmost  Greenland  349 

had  been  brought  with  us  for  use  in  case  of  sickness, 
and  passing  it  "to  Astriip  to  take  a  thimbleful,  I  fol- 
lowed suit,  and  then  christened  the  great  bay  spread- 
ing its  white  expanse  before  us  Independence  Bay, 
in\onour  of  the  date,  July  4th.  The  great  glacier  at 
our  right  I  named  Academy  Glacier,  in  honour  of  the 
Academy  of  Natural  Sciences,  Philadelphia  ;  and  the 
United  States  Navy  was  remembered  in  the  name 
Navy  Cliff,  which  I  gave  to  the  giant  cliff  on  which 
we  stood. 

Then  Astriip  and  I  completed  the  cairn  on  Navy 
Cliff.  In  the  centre  of  this  cairn  I  placed  a  tightly 
corked  bottle  containing  an  account  of  the  expedi- 
tion, its  aims  and  objects,  with  portraits  of  all  the 
members,  taken  from  the  New  York  Sun  of  June  6, 
1 89 1,  and  the  following  record  : 

"  North    Greenland    Expedition    of    1891-92,  Robert    E. 
Peary,  Civil  Engineer,  United  States  Navy, 
Commanding. 

"  July  4.  iSq2,  latitude  Si"  37  '  5  ". 
"  Have  this  dav,  with  one  companion,  Eivind  Astrup,  and  eight 
dogs,  reached  this  point,  via  the  Inland  Ice,  from  McCormick 
Bay,'whale  Sound.  We  have  travelled  over  five  hundred  miles, 
and'Astriip,  myself,  and  the  dogs  are  in  best  condition.  I  have 
named  this  fjord  'Independence,'  in  honour  of  that  day,  July 
4th,  dear  to  all  Americans,  on  which  we  looked  down  into  it. 
Have  killed  five  '  musk-oxen  in  the  valley  above,  and  have  seen 
several  others.     I  start  back  for  Whale  Sound  to-morrow. 

"  R.  E.  Peary.  U.  S.  N." 

The  back  of  this  record  contained  the  following 
printed  request  in  several  languages,  being  the  usvial 
request  on  all  Arctic  records  : 

"  North  Greenland  Expedition  of  1891-92. 

"  Robert  E.  Peary,  Civil  Engineer,  U.  S.  N. 
"Whoever  finds  this  paper  is   requested  to  forward  it  to  the 
Secretary  of  the   Navy,  Washington,  D.  C,  with  a  note  of  the 

'  Two  killed  sulisequent  to  first  attack. 


35°       Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

time  and  place  at  which  it  was  found  ;  or,  if  more  convenient, 
to  deliver  it,  for  that  purpose,  to  the  United  States  Consul  at  the 
nearest  port." 

[This  was  repeated  in  French,  Spanish,  Dutch,  Danish,  and 
German.] 

A  duplicate  of  this  same  record,  rolled  closely  and 
inserted  in  a  twelve-inch  brass  thermometer  case,  was 
also  deposited  in  the  cairn,  and  then,  under  one  of 
the  flat  stones,  an  entire  copy  of  the  New  York  Sh7i 
of  Sunday,  June  7,  1891,  and  Harpers  JVcck/y  of 
May  23,  1 89 1.  After  the  capstone  was  put  on,  the 
flags  of  the  Philadelphia  Academy  of  Natural  Sci- 
ences and  the  National  Geographic  Society  of  Wash- 
ington, presented  by  Miss  Dahlgren,  were  attached 
to  the  bamboo  staff  of  the  little  silken  guidon  (which 
Mrs.  Peary  had  made  at  Red  Cliff  House  and  pre- 
sented to  me  as  a  Christmas  present),  and  the  staff 
was  fixed  in  the  cairn.  How  gloriously  the  brilliant 
colours  sparkled,  as  the  wind  from  the  mighty  ice-cap 
spread  them  to  the  vivid  sunlight  and  filled  the  air 
about  the  summit  of  the  great  bronze  cliff  with  their 
laughing  rustle ! 

Photographs  of  the  cairn  and  of  the  flags  were 
taken,  a  handful  of  flowers  gathered  from  the  rocks, 
and  with  a  parting  look  at  the  scene  which  human 
eyes  might  not  see  again  for  years,  perhaps  never, 
we  turned  back  towards  the  great  ice-cap.  Half  a 
day's  march  brought  us  back  to  the  camp  in  Musk- 
Ox  Valley. 

Tying  our  dogs  so  that  they  could  feast  upon  the 
body  of  the  second  musk-ox,  we  flung  ourselves  upon 
our  couch  of  musk-ox  fur  beside  the  babbling  brook, 
and  with  the  sky  of  Italy  above  us,  bright  yellow 
flowers  peering  at  us  from  among  the  forbidding 
rocks,  and  soft  misty  wreaths  creeping  up  the  gorges 
from  the  basin  of  the  giant  glacier,  we  gave  ourselves 


Northernmost  Greenland 


35' 


up  to  the  luxury  of  perfect  rest  and  idle  fancies.  All 
care  and  responsibility  and  weariness  of  body,  worry 
as  to  the  dogs,  and  disappointment,  were  thrown  to 
the  winds.  On  this  day  I  would  be  a  boy  with  As- 
triip,  and  we  would  celebrate  the  glorious  old  Fourth 
in  a  royal  dinner.  It  was  rather  late  to  eat  our 
Fourth-of-July  dinner,  for  the  fifth  of  the  month  was 
full  grown  ;  but  we  had  been  too  busy  at  Observa- 


"  BESIDE  THE   BABBLING  BROOK." 

A  Perfect  Summer  Day  in  Musk-Ox  \'alley. 

tion  Point  to  think  of  spreading  a  banquet  there,  and 
anyway  our  anniversary  spread  was  only  a  little  be- 
lated.     This  was  our  menu  : 


Brandy  Cocktail,  a  la  Fourth  of  July. 

Pea  Soup. 

Sauterne. 

Sirloin  of  Musk-Ox  Broiled,  with  Biscuits. 

Veal  Cutlets,  with  Biscuits. 

Bartlett  Pears  and  Cream,  ()  la  Tin  Can. 

Tea  and  Biscuits. 


352       Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

Never  was  a  dinner  more  thoroughly  enjoyed,  and 
never,  thought  we,  was  sound  sleep  afterwards  more 
deserved.  Nothing  could  be  simpler  than  our  prepa- 
rations for  the  night's  rest.  We  simply  rolled  over, 
with  our  backs  to  the  kitchen. 

During  our  traverse  of  this  northern  land,  I  found 
flowers  of  numerous  varieties  blooming  in  abundance  ; 
conspicuous  among  them,  the  ever-present  arctic  pop- 
py. Snow-buntings,  two  or  three  sandpipers,  a  single 
Greenland  falcon,  and  a  pair  of  ravens  were  observed. 
Two  bumble-bees,  several  butterflies,  and  innumerable 
flies  were  also  noted.  Without  making  any  search 
whatever,  we  saw  about  twent\-  musk-o.xen  along  our 
route.  We  could  have  obtained  all  of  them  without 
the  least  difficulty,  and  as  it  was  we  killed  two  fine 
cows,  a  bull,  and  a  calf.  The  musk-oxen  were  shed- 
ding their  long  fine  wool,  and  the  long  hair  on  their 
hind  quarters.  We  found  the  stomachs  of  the  cows 
we  killed  full  of  grass. 

Our  return  to  Moraine  Camp,  at  the  edge  of  the 
Inland  Ice,  was  but  a  repetition  of  our  journey  down, 
except  that  Astriip  and  myself  each  had  an  addition 
of  some  twenty-five  or  thirty  pounds  of  musk-ox 
tongues,  hearts,  and  sirloin,  and  four  of  my  best  and 
strongest  dogs  carried  upon  their  backs  some  twenty 
pounds  apiece.  Under  ordinary  circumstances  this 
experiment  would  have  been  absolutely  impossible  ; 
but  now  my  dogs  were  so  completely  surfeited  with 
food,  having  eaten  all  of  two  musk-oxen,  except  what 
they  were  now  carrying,  that  the  meat  on  their  backs 
had  no  attraction  for  them.  If  I  could  have  foreseen 
this,  my  anxiety  for  some  time  previous  would  have 
been  greatly  relieved.  Now,  however,  I  had  eight 
well-fed  dotrs  with  which  to  start  back  to  McCormick 
Bay.  As  for  ourselves,  we  had  been  feastmg  on 
musk-ox  veal,  sirloin,  and  tenderloin  ;  and,  strange  as 


M  A  P    O  F 

independence:  bay 

ElAST  COAST  OF  GREENLAND 
July     I"    i8<)Z 
/  R.E.PeaR-t,  U.SNavy 


OBSERVATION  SPOT  ON  Navy  Cliff 
Lax.   8i°  37'   S"  N 
LONd   a>s'5'   W. 


MAP  OF   INDEPENDENCE   BAY. 
(Used  through  the  courtesy  of  the  American  Geographical  Society,  New  York.) 


354        Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

it  may  appear,  we  had  had  a  surfeit  of  our  fresh  food  ; 
and  as  we  picked  our  way  over  the  tiresome  boulder 
fragments,  on  our  journey  back  to  Moraine  Camp, 
Astrijp  reiterated  tliat  he  wished  we  were  back  to  the 
camp,  for  he  wanted  a  piece  of  pemmican. 

That  route  of  ours,  from  Moraine  Camp  to  Navy 
Chff  and  back  again,  was  a  httle  the  worst  travehing 
we  found  in  Greenland.  We  were  two  days  getting 
back  to  the  camp,  and  when  we  reached  it,  every  dog 
in  the  team,  except  old  veteran  Lion  and  my  favour- 
ite Pau  (now  entirely  recovered),  had  cut  and  worn 
his  feet  on  the  sharp  rocks  until  they  were  bleeding. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

EIGHT    THOUSAND    FEET    ABOVE    THE    SEA. 

Getting  Ready  for  the  Homeward  March — A  Steady  Climb  to  the 
Top  of  Greenland — Prisoned  in  a  Snow  Dug-Out  Sixty  Hours  by  the 
Biggest  Storm  of  the  Series — Groping  our  Way  for  Two  Weeks 
through  Dense  Fogs  that  Crown  the  Summit  Plateau — We  Find  it 
very  Hard  to  Keep  the  Course — The  Wind  our  Sole  Reliance — Las- 
situde and  Despondency  Due  to  the  Dripping  Mist — We  Abandon  a 
Sledge  and  Throw  away  Everything  we  can  Spare — Once  more  in 
the  Realm  of  Sunshine — Making  Thirty  to  Forty  Miles  a  Day  on  the 
Home-Stretch — Meeting  our  Friends  on  the  Inland  Ice— Welcomed 
BACK  TO  Red  Cliff. 


Cd 
U 

< 

o 

M 
I 
(- 

Z 

o 

o 

2 


CO 


CHAPTER   XIII. 


EKHIT    THOUSAND    FEET    ABOVE    THE    SEA. 


WE  had  looked  out 
upon  the  Arctic 
Ocean  from 
land  never  seen  before  by 
the  eyes  of  man.  We 
had  seen  the  islands  ris- 
ing in  hills  and  mountains 
beyond  the  channel  that 
marks  the  northern  edge 
of  the  mainland.  We 
had  done  all  we  could, 
and  were  now  content  to 
set  our  faces  homeward.  But  first  of  all  a  halt  was 
necessary  at  Moraine  Camp,  for  both  man  and  beast 
were  sadly  in  need  of  rest.  Furthermore,  all  our 
equipment  needed  overhauling,  and  we  must  make 
careful  preparations  for  our  return  trip  ;  and  so,  while 
the  dogs  curled  themselves  up  in  the  spaces  between 
the  rocks,  to  nurse  their  wounded  feet,  and  sleep, 
Astriip  and  I  began  overhauling  our  impedimenta. 
We  threw  away  everything  we  did  not  absolutely  need. 
We  reduced  our  big  three-runner  sledge  to  its  original 
dimensions.  All  the  sledge  lashings  were  inspected, 
and  renewed  where  necessary.  Whip  and  snow-shoes 
and  ski  were  carefully  examined  and  put  in  order,  and 

357 


358       Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

many  a  rip  and  tear  in  our  costumes  were  repaired. 
All  our  foot-gear  had  been  damaged  and  some  of  it 
completely  worn  out  during  our  fifty  miles  of  over- 
land travelling,  and  it  required  our  best  attention  to 
fit  it  for  service.  When  all  the  work  of  preparation 
was  complete,  I  climbed  to  the  top  of  the  moraine  to 
look  once  more  upon  the  wild  northern  land  below 
me.  In  the  opposite  direction,  our  route  across  the 
frozen  Sahara  was  nearly  twice  as  long  as  the  dis- 


PACKING  FOR  THE  RETURN. 


tance  traversed  by  Nansen,  with  a  fresh  party,  in  his 
crossing  of  Greenland.  There  might  be  furious  and 
long-continued  storms,  common  to  the  southern  por- 
tions of  this  great  ice-cap,  which  would  hold  us  pris- 
oners for  days  and  days.  There  might  be  sickness  ; 
there  might  be  mishap.  A  thousand  and  one  similar 
nightmares  should  have  troubled  me.  Yet,  such  was 
the  power  of  perfect  health  and  conscious  strength, 
such  the  ma^ic  of  that  summer  sunlitrht,  that  not  a 


Eight  Thousand  Feet  above  the  Sea 


359 


shadow  would  stay  with  me.  I  felt  unbounded  con- 
fidence in  our  ability  and  the  efficiency  of  our  equip- 
ment. The  idea  of  sickness  seemed  out  of  the 
question.  If  my  dogs  gave  out,  we  had  with  us  the 
winged  ski  ;  and  with  these  I  knew  we  had  it  in  our 
power  to  cover  fifty  miles  per  day,  for  three  or  per- 
haps four  days.  Then,  too,  this  glorious  sunlight  was 
not  intended  for  men  to  die  in,  but  to  live  in  ;  and  the 
great  Sahara  itself,  terrible  as  might  be  its  moods  at 
times,  desolate  and  full  of  unimaginable  horrors  as  it 


STORM  CAMP. 


was  to  the  poor  natives  and  to  those  who  knew  it  not, 
was  it  not  our  friend,  had  we  not  travelled  day  after 
day  upon  it,  slept  night  after  night  upon  its  bosom, 
and  sheltered  ourselves  beneath  its  orlisteninL:  surface  ? 
We  had  conquered  it  as  we  had  conquered  the  dogs 
which  dragged  our  sledge,  and,  like  them,  it  was  now 
our  friend. 

At  last  all  was  ready.  On  the  eve  of  Jul)-  7th, 
while  the  sun  was  shining  brightly,  we  turned  our 
backs  on  the  land  and  started  up  the  slope  to  reach 
the  icy  heights  above  us.      In  order  to  avoid  the  ere- 


360       Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

vasses  and  glacier  basins  which  had  so  hampered  us 
on  the  upward  march,  I  proposed,  in  returning,  to 
keep  well  to  the  east  and  south  of  my  outward  course. 

The  first  mile  or  two  from  Moraine  Camp  was  hard 
climbing,  and  we  had  to  get  into  the  traces  ourselves 
and  help  the  dogs  haul.  I  was  not  surprised  that  our 
first  day's  record  was  only  ten  miles  ;  but  in  this  dis- 
tance we  had  climbed  a  thousand  feet  into  the  air. 
Best  of  all,  we  were  favoured  with  good  going.  A 
firm,  granular  crust  gave  easy  slipping  for  the  sledges, 
and  the  best  of  footing  for  Astriip  anti  myself.  Dis- 
carding ski  and  snow-shoes,  we  trudged  along  in  our 
kamiks.  We  were  terribly  sleep-hungry  when  we 
camped,  but  were  still  able  to  enjoy  the  regulation 
Inland-Ice  dinner.  Pemmican  with  cranberry  sauce, 
pea  soup  with  musk-ox  cut  up  in  it,  milk,  tea,  and  bis- 
cuit, all  tasted  more  than  good  ;  and  Astrup  had  been 
living  in  anticipation  of  this  bill  of  fare  all  day. 

|uly  9th,  we  climbed  thirteen  hundred  feet  into  the 
air  in  a  distance  of  twenty-one  and  a  half  miles.  Still 
the  same  perfect  snow  surface  was  spread  around  us. 
The  day  and  the  going  had  been  perfection.  When 
we  camped  I  felt  as  if  I  had  taken  my  ship  safely  out 
of  port,  and,  free  at  last  from  all  rocks  and  shoals,  had 
no  land  in  sight  and  only  deep  water  all  about  me. 
We  were  climbing  to  the  cloud-shrouded  plateau  of 
the  continental  divide,  and  the  ascent  to  the  misty 
frozen  heights  was  exhilarating.  While  the  ice  sloped 
to  the  north,  it  also  had  a  very  sensible  slope  to  the 
true  east.  All  the  sas/rn^/  pointed  east,  and  the  wind, 
constantly  from  the  west,  was  pouring  down  the 
slope. 

At  three  a.m.,  the  wind  died  down  and  off  came  our 
kooletahs.      We  had  had  the  sun  at  our  backs  all  the. 
way,  and  it  was  a  comfort  to  get  into  camp  with  eyes 
in  a  usable  condition.      We  went  to  sleep  at  seven  a.m., 


Eig-ht  Thousand  Feet  above  the  Sea     361 

nearly  a  half-mile  higher  in  the  air  than  at  Moraine 
Camp.  But  such  was  the  heat  of  the  sun  that,  lying 
under  a  tarpaulin,  I  was  awakened  at  midday  in  a  pro- 
fuse perspiration.  I  felt  thankful  for  the  good  effect 
of  the  musk-ox  banquet  upon  our  dogs,  which  was  still 
apparent.  I  had  eight  well-fed  dogs  to  help  me  climb 
the  u-rade.       In  this  day's  march,  we  had  travelled 


PANIKPA. 


nearly  all  day  without  ski  or  snow-shoes,  but  we  [Jut 
them  on  towards  the  end. 

On  July  loth,  in  a  little  over  twenty  miles,  we  rose 
nearly  a  thousand  feet  higher.  It  was  apparent  that 
the  continental  divide  runs  north  and  south,  and  was 
still  ahead  of  us.  It  was  a  hard  day  for  me.  I  at- 
tributed my  relaxed  energies  and  mental  heaviness  to 
the  beverage  I  drank  at  breakfast.       I  wrote  in  my 


362        Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

diary  that  I  was  glad  we  had  reached  the  last  of  our 
coffee.  I  wore  my  snow-shoes  all  day,  though  the 
surface  was  firm  enough  to  support  sledges  and  dogs, 
and  best  of  all  there  was  no  drift. 

One  of  our  dogs,  black  Panikpa,  loosened  his 
muzzle,  chewed  off  his  harness,  and  got  at  our  musk- 
ox  meat.  A  timely  alarm  from  the  other  dogs  brought 
me  upon  him  before  he  had  eaten  a  half-pound,  and 
he  was  soundly  thrashed  before  being  tied  up  again. 
This  dog,  Panikpa,  I  called  the  "good  little  boy," 
from  the  bright,  expectant,  "  good-little-boy-and-just- 
had-your-face-washed  "  expression  with  which  he  used 
to  sit  up  and  wait  for  his  himp  of  pemmican. 

On  July  1  ith,  we  added  six  hundred  feet  to  our  al- 
titude in  a  distance  of  twenty  miles.  We  were  near- 
ing  the  region  of  clouds,  and  our  corrected  elevation 
now  was  about  7300  feet  above  sea-level.  The  air 
was  balmy  and  invigorating  for  half  the  day.  I 
wondered  if  the  last  few  perfect  days  were  a  fair 
sample  of  July  weather  on  the  east-coast  slope.  Our 
picnic  was  about  over,  however,  and  this  was  our  last 
march  for  two  days,  for  we  were  stopped  and  driven 
to  our  burrow  in  the  snow  by  the  severest  storm  we 
had  experienced  since  we  left  the  basin  of  Humboldt 
Glacier. 

When  we  had  completed  about  half  of  this  march, 
Pollux,  one  of  the  dogs  I  had  purchased  of  Ahngo- 
doblaho,  fell  down  exhausted  and  could  haul  no  more. 
The  land  trip  had  evidently  been  too  much  for  him. 
We  tied  him  behind  the  sledge,  and  he  walked  for  a 
time  and  then  lay  down,  and  we  put  him  on  the  sledge 
till  we  reached  camp,  where  we  killed  the  poor  fellow 
and  added  him  to  our  dog-commissary  stores.  Mean- 
time the  barometer  indications  pointed  to  a  storm 
brewing.  In  the  last  few  hours  of  our  march,  a  heavy 
frost-bank  enveloped  us,  and  I  found  it  affected  my 


Ei'^ht  Thousand  Feet  above  the  Sea     363 

eves  more  unfavourably  than  the  brightest  sunlight. 
We  had  no  more  than  built  our  snow  shelter,  when 
the  storm  burst  upon  us  in  all  its  fury. 

At  an  elevation  nearlv  two  thousand  feet  higher  than 
the  summit  of  Mt.  Washington,  we  were  prisoners  on 
the   Inland   Ice.     For  forty-eight    hours,  until   three 


THE    KITCHEN. 

o'clock  on  the  morning  of  July  14th.  there  was  not  a 
moment's  cessation  in  the  howling  storm  that  swept 
with  resistless  fury  down  the  slope  towards  the  wild 
east  coast.  The  trench  in  which  we  lay  in  the  snow 
was  two  feet  high,  three  feet  wide,  and  seven  feet  long, 
and  was  covered  with  a  cotton  roof  for  half  its  length. 


364        Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

We  spent  sixty  hours  in  this  snug  abode,  and  I  was 
more  comfortable  throughout  the  storm  than  in  any 
I  had  met  since  coming  upon  the  Inland  Ice.  We 
were  warm  and  dry  through  it  all,  and,  in  spite  of  the 
drift  that  had  piled  up  over  us,  we  were  able  to 
change  our  position  whenever  we  desired.  I  emerged 
from  our  drift-covered  refuge  only  once  in  the  sixty 
hours.  We  slept  a  great  deal  of  the  time.  If  we 
could  not  travel,  we  were  at  least  resting  in  anticipa- 
tion of  renewed  and  more  vigorous  efforts.  If  any 
one  could  have  seen  our  camp,  he  would  have  thought 
we  were  buried  alive.  Sledges,  men,  and  dogs  had 
disappeared  from  view,  and  only  snow  mounds  marked 
their  resting-places.  No  sound  could  we  hear  from 
the  dogs,  but  only  the  incessant  roar  of  the  storm 
and  the  swish  of  the  snow  as  it  drove  over  and  past 
us,  down  the  slope  towards  the  east  coast. 

When  at  last  the  storm  abated  and  the  sun  tried 
feebly  to  struggle  into  view,  I  found  the  drift  was 
still  so  fierce  that  the  dogs  would  not  face  it,  and  so 
I  made  no  attempt  to  start.  The  last  twelve  hours 
of  our  enforced  idleness  dragged  very  slowly,  but 
finally  we  made  preparations  to  start,  a  more  formid- 
able task  than  might  be  supposed. 

It  took  Astriip  forty-five  minutes  of  continuous 
labour  to  straighten  out  the  frozen  tangle  of  the  traces, 
tied  by  the  incessant  restlessness  of  the  dogs  into  a 
knot  that  would  have  put  a  dozen  Gordians  to  shame. 
I  was  engaged  the  same  length  of  time  in  digging 
out  the  sledges. 

I  found,  to  my  dismay,  while  looking  over  the 
stores,  that  two  cans  of  pemmican  had  been  spoiled. 
This  doubtless  was  the  result  of  exposure  to  the  heat 
of  the  sun  during  the  few  days  that  the  sledges  lay 
on  the  rocks  at  Moraine  Camp.  With  much  anxiety, 
I  carefully  examined  the  other  tins,  and  I  thought   I 


Eisjht  Thousand  Feet  above  the  Sea 


565 


had  reason   to  believe  that  still  other  cans  had  be- 
come unfit  for  food. 

It  was  with  no  pleasvirable  feeling,  therefore,  that 
we  resumed  the  march.      The  loss  of  one  of  my  best 


WM 

"""^ 

1 

^:& 

^ 

r 

i- ' 

dogs  and  the  spoiling  of  some  of  my  pemmican 
loomed  up  before  me  as  suggestive  of  mountains  of 
trouble  to  come.  The  long  inactivity  in  our  snow 
burrow  for  sixty  hours  had  slightly  impaired  my 
digestion,  and  the  prospect  of   being  reduced  to  eat 


366        Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

dog-meat,  and  of  having  to  haul  a  sledge  for  some 
hundreds  of  miles,  with  no  dogs  to  help  us  in  the 
traces,  seemed  to  stare  me  in  the  face.  To  crown 
all,  the  clouds  enwrapped  us  as  we  started,  and  the 
dismal,  hopeless  weather  gave  poignancy  to  my  de- 
spondency. After  lunch,  I  sent  Astrijp  ahead  to  set 
the  course,  and  I  drove  the  dogs  myself  in  order  to 
divert  my  thoughts. 

I  wonder  if  any  of  my  readers  have  experienced 
the  sensation  of  tramping  steadily  for  days  and  weeks 
apparently  towards  nothing?  Is  there  a  spot  in  the 
Sahara  so  utterly  desolate,  so  void  of  every  element 
of  hopefulness  in  its  surroundings,  as  that  great  pla- 
teau over  which  we  were  now  to  drag  our  wearied 
steps  for  a  fortnight,  with  damp  and  clinging  snow 
under  our  feet,  and  a  thick,  frozen  fog  choking  us 
and  hanging  to  our  garments  in  milk-white  frost-crys- 
tals ?  There  was  no  oasis  to  which  we  could  bend 
our  steps,  and  there  recruit  our  courage  and  strength 
for  further  toil  over  the  arctic  waste.  Our  only 
oases  were  in  the  skies  ;  for  now  and  then  we  could 
dimly  see  the  sun  shining  through  momentary  rifts 
in  the  mist,  and  far  off  along  the  south  and  south- 
west horizon,  we  could  discern  just  a  line  of  exquisite 
pale  greenish-blue  sky. 

The  only  consoling  thought  when  we  pitched  camp 
on  the  first  march  after  the  storm,  was  that  we  were 
twenty  miles  nearer  home.  We  were  tired  enough 
to  sleep  well,  for  the  last  hours  had  been  very  hard. 
We  were  no  longer  climbing  a  slope,  but  were  on  a 
great  level  plateau  at  the  top,  or  very  near  the  top,  of 
Greenland.  The  wind  blew  straight  from  west  to 
east.  The  sledge  hauled  through  the  new  snow  as 
though  on  cloth.  The  dogs  pulled  well,  but  without 
spirit.  Every  tail  drooped  in  the  most  disconsolate 
fashion. 


Eight  Thousand  Feet  above  the  Sea     j^i 

The  tail  of  an  Eskimo  dog  is  his  moral  barometer. 
It  is  the  unerrinij  eautfe  to  the  state  of  his  feelings. 
One  glance  at  it  tells  volumes.  A  well-filled  stomach 
and  an  easy-running  sledge  may  lift  him  to  the  height 
of  canine  felicity  ;  but  heavy  sledging,  the  biting  whip, 
or  an  inglorious  fight  with  a  neighbour  in  the  traces 
may  plunge  him  to  the  depths  of  despair.      His  tail 


SAILING. 


tells  the  whole  story.      Now  every  tail  was  hanging 
low. 

At  midnight,  on  July  15th,  we  were  one  hundred 
miles  on  our  way  south.  That  morning  the  weather 
was  colder.  It  had  stiffened  the  snow  that  was  drift- 
ing heavily  when  we  went  to  bed.  Astriip  was  quite 
frozen  in  under  his  snow  blanket,  and  I  had  to  dig 
him  out.  The  low  temperature  heightened  our  spir- 
its, and  we  set  out  in  fine  feather  in  spite  of  the  mist 
that  hung  all  about  us.  At  any  rate,  we  thought  our 
fog  was  doubtless  an  improvement  upon  the  London 


o 


68        Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice  " 


article ;  but  even  an  expansive  snowscape  would 
have  been  a  welcome  relief  to  the  monotony  of  our 
march.  The  dog  driver  could  barely  see  the  guide, 
who  was  setting  the  course  three  rods  ahead.  We 
had  one  blessing,  for  we  were  favoured  with  the  best 
of  snow-shoeing  all  day.  So  we  made  a  fair  day's 
march,  and,  to  introduce  as  much  variety  as  possible, 
Astrijp  and  I  changed  work  now  and  then  as  dog 
driver  and  pilot.      Late  in  the  day,  our  thoughts  were 


FORE    AND  AFTERS. 


suddenly  centred  on  Miss  Tahwana,  who  was  taken 
violently  ill. 

The  next  day  Tahwana  died,  and  we  carried  her 
body  on  the  sledge  till  we  were  ready  to  feed  it  to 
the  dogs.  Miss  Tahwana  was  my  canine  mascot. 
Early  in  the  winter,  I  had  purchased  her  of  a  good- 
natured,  pigeon-toed  Eskimo,  who  lived  far  up  the 
gulf,  and  when,  after  he  had  gone,  I  went  to  examine 
my  purchase  with  the  aid  of  a  bull's-eye  lantern,  I 
found  that  she  had  but  one  good  eye.  At  first,  she 
was  wild  as  a  hunted  fox,  and  whenever  I  went  near 
her  would  disappear  in  the  burrow  in  the  snow  which 


Eight  Thousand  Feet  above  the  Sea     369 

formed  her  shelter  from  the  biting  winds.  After  a 
time,  she  became  less  timid,  would  take  food  from  my 
hand,  and  when,  early  in  the  spring,  she  gave  birth  to 
a  family  of  nine  puppies,  and  was  brought  with  her 
little  ones  into  the  enclosure  about  the  house,  where 
they  would  be  better  sheltered,  she  became  as  tract- 


SOLITUDE. 


able  as  any  household  pet.  Her  affection  for  me 
seemed  unbounded.  Day  after  day  upon  the  Inland 
Ice  no  motion  of  mine  escaped  that  one  eye  of  hers, 
and  when,  after  a  halt,  I  picked  up  the  little  guidon 
and  started  forward  again,  her  sharp  yelp  and  vigor- 
ous struggles  to  follow  me  were  the  signal  that  brought 


37°       Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

every  other  dog  into  his  harness  and  down  to  his  work. 
Poor  Tahwana  !  It  was  one  of  the  bluest  days  of 
the  white  journey  when  she  sickened,  her  bright  eye 
no  longer  recognised  me,  and  her  tongue  no  longer 
had  strength  to  reach  my  hand. 

Day  after  day,  rare  bits  of  blue  sky  were  alternat- 
ing with  long-continued  banks  of  dense  fog,  which 
coated  us  and  the  dogs  and  sledges  and  loads  with 
the  minutest,  opaque,  white  frost-crystals.  Parhelia, 
fog-bows,  and  sun-pillars  on  the  fog,  of  great  inten- 
sity, formed  and  vanished  around  us  in  countless 
varieties  ;  but  all  this  gorgeous  pageant  could  not 
recompense  us  for  the  blanket  shroud  of  dark,  cold 
fog.  We  were  now  bearing  rapidly  away  to  the  west, 
and  I  hoped  soon  to  be  at  a  lower  level  and  out  of  the 
clouds. 

I  was  considerably  worried  again  about  my  dogs. 
Their  tails  were  generally  drooping.  The  loss  of 
Tahwana  was  ominous,  and  it  seemed  to  me  the  ani- 
mals were  almost  completely  played  out.  My  eyes, 
too,  suffered  in  the  fog  nearly  as  much  as  in  the  daz- 
zlinij  sunlight. 

On  July  1 8th,  I  was  awakened  by  a  sense  of  cold, 
and  found  the  wind  blowing  directly  into  my  kitchen, 
which  had  been  built  the  previous  evening  with  the 
closed  end  to  the  wind.  This  complete  reversal  of 
the  air-current  soon  had  its  effect  upon  the  clouds, 
which  began  to  break  away,  giving  us  glimpses  of  the 
sun  and  bits  of  sky.  When  we  made  our  midday 
halt,  blue  sky  was  all  about  us,  and  though  the  last 
snow  had  been  deposited  in  drifts,  the  surface  was 
fairly  firm,  and,  most  of  the  time,  supported  the  dogs 
and  sledges.  We  had  now  been  travelling  seventy 
miles  among  the  clouds,  and  the  temporary  change 
revived  our  spirits,  and  the  dogs  were  brisker  in 
movement.     We    were   across  the  divide,    and  were 


Eight  Thousand  Feet  above  the  Sea     37^ 

beginning  to  descend  the  west  slope.  Taking  ad- 
vantage of  the  easterly  breeze,  I  rigged  a  mast 
and  sail  on  my  sledge,  and  the  dogs  were  greatly 
helped.  We  were  at  last  south  and  east  of  the 
dreaded  Sherard-Osborne  Fjord  region,  which  had 
given  us  so  much  hard  work  on  our  way  north  ;  and  I 
intended  now  to  bear  more  to  the  westward,  to  reach 
a  better  road  at  a  lower  level  parallel  with  our  out- 
ward course.      We  were  destined,  however,  to  travel 


CROSSING   PRUDHOE   LAND. 


many  more  miles  down  the  long  gentle  slope  before 
the  clouds  were  above  instead  of  around  us. 

The  night  of  July  i8th  was  the  coldest  (  —  5°  F. )  we 
had  experienced  since  early  in  May.  When  we  arose 
on  July  19th,  there  was  a  thick  frost-fog,  and  every- 
thing was  covered  with  milk-white  crystals.  It  was 
snowing  and  blowing  dead  ahead,  and  we  delayed  the 
start  two  hours  until  the  wind  went  down  a  little. 
Snow-shoeing  was   excellent,  but  without   our   snow- 


372        Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

shoes  or  ski  we  sank  eight  or  ten  inches  at  every  step. 
It  seemed  almost  impossible  to  keep  a  course,  and  we 
went  zigzagging  along. 

All  through  our  long  marches  in  the  fog,  we  found 
the  work  of  keeping  to  the  course  very  arduous.  The 
compass  was  wholly  unavailable  to  a  man  walking. 
He  could  not  see  the  snow  ahead,  and  there  was  ab- 
solutely nothing  visible  to  fix  the  eye  upon.  The 
onlv  resource  was  the  wind,  and  this  was  now  and 


A   HEAD-WIND. 


then  so  light  that  I  was  obliged  to  devise  and  use  a 
special  wind-vane.  By  taking  the  compass  direction 
of  the  wind  every  fifteen  to  thirty  minutes,  and  then 
keeping  the  pennant  at  the  proper  angle,  with  the 
bamboo  pole  held  projecting  straight  ahead,  I  was  able 
appro.ximately  to  keep  the  course  through  the  utter 
blankness  of  our  surroundings. 

July  20th  was  a  red-letter  occasion  because  it  was  a 
twenty-mile    day.      The  sun  paid  us  a  brief  visit   at 


Eis'l'it  Thousand  Feet  above  the  Sea     2,72) 


one  A.M.  The  day  before,  in  thick  weather,  I  thouglit  I 
was  aware  of  a  slope  towards  the  west,  but  now  there 
was  no  mistaking  it.  We  could  distinctly  see  the 
long  slopes  towards  the  west  and  south-west.  The 
result  of  my  an.xiety  in  behalf  of  the  dogs  was  a  slight 
increase  in  their  rations,  and  although  the  going  was 
still  heavy  they  were  in  better  spirits. 

July  2ist,  however,  was  a  disappointing  day.  We 
had  counted  on  fifteen  miles  at  least,  and  made  only 
nine.  An  inch  of  snow  fell  after  lunch,  making  the 
sledge  so  heavy  that  the  dogs  could  hardly  move  it, 

and     Astriip    said 
his  ski  felt  as  if 
sanded  on  the 
jB.  \      bottom. 

On  this 

day, 

1 


found  I  had  only 
ninety    pounds    of 
pemmican   on   which 
to   feed    two    men   and 
six  dogs  till   our  journey 
was  ended,  and   at   the  rate 
we  were  travelling  it  would  take 
over  twenty  days.      The  numer-  ^^ 
ous  snow-squalls  and  the  inter- 
minable fogs  had  greatly  delayed  us.      I  decided  that 
we  must  abandon  one  sledge  and  throw  awa)'  every 


THE   HOME  STRETCH. 


374       Northward  over  the  "  Great  Ice  " 

pound  of  baggage  we  could  spare.  We  re-packed 
our  load  on  the  little  sledge,  and  threw  away  a  pair  of 
ski,  a  pair  of  snow-shoes,  and  other  articles,  altogether 
weighing  about  fifty  pounds.  I  took  the  big  sledge 
in  tow  until  I  saw  that  the  small  one  carried  its  load 
well  through  the  heavy  snow,  and  then  I  cast  old  Faith- 
ful adrift.  We  made  over  sixteen  miles,  though  the 
snow  was  very  deep  and  hard  to  pull  through.  As 
we  camped  at  six  a.m.  on  July  22d,  a  skua  or  jaeger 
gull.  Hying  from  east  to  west,  passed  about  fifty  feet 
above  m)'  head.  A  frost-fog  descended  on  us,  cover- 
ing everything  with  its  crystals. 

Next  day  the  fog  kept  with  us  as  usual,  but  the  an- 
eroid showed  a  descent  of  four  hundred  feet.  We 
were  leaving  the  dreary  desert  of  the  summit  plateau 
very  gradually,  and  were  heading  for  Camp  Separa- 
tion, in  the  basin  of  Humboldt  Glacier. 

Another  skua  gull  hovered  over  our  camp  when  I 
awoke  at  eight  p.m.  on  July  23d.  We  started  in  a 
snow-storm,  but  soon  the  weather  became  so  thick 
and  calm  that  I  could  not  keep  the  course,  and  so  we 
lay  down  under  a  tarpaulin  and  got  seven  hours' 
sleep.  Then,  stripping  in  the  midst  of  the  snow- 
storm, I  indulged  in  the  luxury  of  a  snow  rub-down 
at  a  temperature  of  +25°  F.,  and  then  lay  down  under 
a  tarpaulin  for  three  hours  longer.  I  can  heartily 
recommend  this  regime  to  any  person  of  good  phy- 
sique as  a  very  invigorating  process.  As  we 
started  on  again,  the  storm  ceased.  The  fog-banks 
and  clouds  swept  over  and  hung  ahead  of  us  till  mid- 
day, and  then  they  melted  away. 

The  realm  of  mists  was  at  last  above  and  behind 
us.  Once  more  we  saw  all  around  us  the  illimitable 
snow  plain.  There  had  been  times  when  we  were 
weary  of  the  sight  of  it  ;  but  how  beautiful  it  looked 
to  us  now  in  all  its  sparkling  purity  and  glory  !   Once 


liight  Thousand  Feet  above  the  Sea     375 

more  we  saw  the  exquisite  azure  of  the  sky.  How 
glad  it  made  us,  and  how  heartily  we  welcomed  the 
breath  of  the  biting,  yet  still  beloved,  south-easter  ! 
There  could  be  but  one  happier  moment  for  me ; 
and  that  would  be  when  I  stood  again  in  her  pres- 
ence who  had  so  bravely  bade  me  God-speed  as  I 
left  her  on  the  beach  of  McCormick  Bay. 

We  were  now   below    Petermann    Fjord,   and    ap- 
proximately five  thousand  feet  above  the  sea.     The 


^kk. 

m 

jift 

IMM   Ssn 

.xA^ 

t-'^x. 

^iT'   ^ 

H^K 

'v   V 

m 

ON  THE  SUMMIT  OF  DOME   MOUNTAIN. 

most  trying  experiences  I  had  on  the  Inland  Ice 
were  those  long  days  and  nights  wherein  I  could  see 
scarcely  the  length  of  our  sledges.  The  incessant 
endeavour  to  keep  a  course  on  the  march  imposed 
upon  me  a  strain  that  was  not  easily  endured.  Add 
to  this  the  constant  feeling  of  heaviness  and  lassitude 
due  to  the  thick  fogs,  and  perhaps  in  some  measure 
to  our  lofty  elevation,  and  I  must  pronounce  the  two 
weeks  I  spent  on  the  ice-cap,  at  an  elevation  of  eight 


^7(>       Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

thousand  feet  much  of  the  time,  the  most  unpleasant 
of  my  Greenland  experiences. 

There  is  a  golden  mean  between  the  broken  ice  of 
the  glacier  basins  and  the  cloud-capped  summits  of 
the  ice  plateau,  where  the  ills  and  obstacles  I  met  on 
both  my  routes  may  be  avoided. 

Now  we  trudged  along  in  the  sharp,  pure  air.  Bare- 
headed and  in  my  undershirt  I  read  Exi/cs  of  Siberia 
as  I  drove  the  dogs  ;  but  by  lunch-time  I  was  glad  to 
put  on  my  kooletah  and  pull  the  draw-strings  tight. 

Now  came  the  halcyon  days  of  our  Inland-Ice  trip. 
The  night  of  July  28th  was  a  glorious  marching-time, 
and  we  had  a  fine  run.  Just  before  lunch,  we  reached 
a  very  thin  vitreous  crust,  which  would  support  the 
sledge,  ski,  and  snow-shoes,  but  not  the  dogs.  The 
next  day  we  were  still  travelling  over  this  crust,  and 
its  stiff  and  burnished  surface  and  down  grade  helped 
us  to  put  many  a  mile  behind  us.  Another  of  my 
dogs  had  given  out,  and  been  fed  to  its  more  fortun- 
ate comrades  ;  but  the  remaining  five,  Pau,  Lion, 
Merktoshar,  Castor,  and  Panikpa,  were  powerful, 
brawny  brutes,  thin,  gaunt,  tough  as  steel,  and 
entirely  recovered  from  their  depression  of  spirits. 
They  were  sure  to  return  to  their  home  once  more, 
unless  some  utterly  unforeseen  mishap  should  com- 
pel Astrijp  and  myself  to  eat  them.'      It  was  with  an 

'  These  five  dogs  returned  to  the  United  States  with  me  in  1892,  accompanied 
me  on  my  lecture  tour  during  the  winter,  and  started  north  with  me  again  on 
the  Falcon  in  1893.  Castor  fell  overboard  in  heavy  weather  off  St.  John's  and 
wa^  lost.  Lion,  Pan,  Merktoshar,  and  Panikpa  did  their  sliare  of  the  ice-cap 
work  in  the  fall  of  1S93.  Pau  died  at  the  lodge  in  the  early  spring  of  i8g4. 
Lion,  Merktoshar,  and  Panikpa  went  through  the  ice-cap  work  of  1894.  .-Mter 
the  return  from  the  ice-cap,  Panikpa  was  lost  by  one  of  my  hunting  parties  and 
dragged  himself  back  to  the  lodge  two  weeks  later  completely  exhausted.  He 
never  recovered  entirely  from  the  strain  of  this  experience,  and  remained 
with  me  at  the  lodge  until  I  came  home  in  1S95,  when  I  gave  him  to  Nuktah. 
He  was  still  alive  in  the  summer  of  1896  and  remembered  me  with  every  mark 
of  aiifeclion.  Merktoshar  was  also  alive  in  the  summer  of  iSg6.  Lion  died  at 
Karnah  in  December,  1895,  in  the  heart  of  the  "  great  night"  which  he  knew 
so  well. 


Eight  Thousand  Feet  above  the  Sea     c,77 

indescribable  thrill  of  pleasure,  at  the  end  of  our  first 
march  after  reachincr  the  five-thousand-foot  level,  a 
march  during  which  we  covered  twenty-two  miles, 
that  I  found  my  dogs  still  comparatively  fresh.  The 
next  day  we  covered  a  little  more  ;  the  next,  more 
still  ;  and  yet  each  night  it  seemed  as  if  we  were  as 
fresh  as  in  the  morning.  The  weather  during  this 
time  was  perfection,  and  never  have  I  experienced 


PROF.   HEILPRIN  AND   HIS   PARTY. 

more  fully  the  moral  effect  resulting  from  the  physi- 
cal exhilaration  of  rapid  travelling.  The  dogs  felt  it 
as  much  as,  perhaps  more  than,  Astriip  and  I  ;  and 
though  their  natural  long,  wolfish  gallop  had  been 
trained  out  of  them  by  the  heavy,  laborious  pulling 
of  the  last  three  months,  still  the  old  flash  and  fire 
were  there.  They  had  not  been  worked  beyond 
their  elastic  limit,  their  tails  were  raised  and  tightly 


3/8        Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 


curled,  and  I  knew  that  I  was  bringing  back  from 
one  of  the  longest  of  sledge  journeys,  with  the  heavi- 
est of  loads  and  a  minimum  of  food,  a  team  of  dogs 
actually  in  good  condition.     Once  more  we  lightened 

our  load  to  the  lowest 
limit,  looked  carefully 
to  the  lashings  of  the 
sledge,  and  put  in  order 
our  equipment.  We 
were  now  east  of  the 
basin  of  Humboldt 
Glacier.  Nearly  two 
hundred  miles  away  was 
our  sjoal,  and  this  whole 
stretch  must  be  covered 
rapidly.  We  were  still 
out  of  sight  of  land,  but 
a  few  days  more  would 
bring  us  within  view 
of  the  familiar  land- 
scape bordering  Whale 
Sound. 

On  July  31st  and 
August  1st,  we  travelled 
over  the  rough,  frozen 
surface  without  aid  of 
snow-shoes  or  ski.  We 
passed  many  snow  hum- 
mocks, some  of  them 
fifty  feet  high,  where 
the  drift  had  settled 
around  some  protruding  bit  of  ice  and  built  snow- 
hills  on  the  plain.  Sasirugi  were  also  numerous. 
The  surface  was  sloping  perceptibly  towards  the 
western  sea.  Then  we  travelled  for  miles  without 
seeing  a  single  hummock  or  sastrugi. 


A  BEACON. 


Eieht  Thousand  Feet  above  the  Sea     379 


■fc. 


We  were  making  express  speed  to  Red  Cliff  when, 
on  August  2d,  we  neared  the  divide  between  the  Kane 
Basin  and  the  Whale-Sound  region.  For  five  hours 
on  that  day  we  climbed  diagonally  a  very  regular 
but  gradual  ascent ;  and  at  seven  o'clock  on  the  morn- 
ing of  August  3d  we  reached  the  summit,  trudged  on 
some  miles,  and  camped  in  sight  of  familiar  land,  the 
first  we  had  seen  since  we  left  the  region  of  In- 
dependence Bay.  The  wind  blew  fresh  from  the 
south-east,  and  all  that  forenoon  and  the  previous 
afternoon  my  dogs  had  been  continually  sniffing  the 
air,  their  keen  noses  evidently  detecting  the  presence 
of  land.  We  closed  the  day  with  a  tally  of  thirty-five 
miles  as  the  reward  of  our  day's  work.  We  had  worn 
our  snow-travelling  gear  all  day,  making  our  way 
through  light   but  not  deep  snow. 

The  ne.xt  morning,  we  advanced  about  five  miles 
nearer  to  the  land,  and  then  deflected  to  the  westward, 
in  order  to  get  into  our  outward  track  and  come 
down  over  the  long  tongue  of  ice  stretching  down  to 
McCormick  Bay  between  the  Sun  and  Tuktoo  Gla- 
ciers. I  had  intentionally  kept  to  the  eastward  of  my 
outward  course  all  the  way  back  from  Humboldt 
Glacier,  in  order  to  have  the  advantages  of  a  more 

level  road. 

Merrily  we  dashed  along  the  gradually  descendmg 
surface  into  the  depression  north  of  Dome  Mountam, 
the  name  which  I  had  given  to  the  most  northerly  of 
the  giant  ice  hummocks  which  extend  from  the  edge 
of  the  Inland  Ice  to  the  head  of  McCormick  Bay. 
Here  the  heat  of  the  meridian  sun  was  softening  the 
surface  of  the  deep,  sludge-like  snow,  till  my  dogs 
were  unable  to  travel  through  it.  I  made  every  ef- 
fort to  get  across  upon  the  slope  of  Dome  Mountam, 
the  higher  elevation  and  northerly  exposure  of  which 
I  knew  would  enable  us  to  advance  ;  but  in  this  I  was 


380        Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

unsuccessful,  and  was  obliged  to  halt  and  wait  for  the 
surface  of  the  snow  to  harden  again.  As  soon  as  this 
was  the  case  we  got  under  way  and  zigzagged  up  the 
slope  of  Dome  Mountain  for  some  hours. 

As  I  came  over  the  crest  and  looked  forward  to  the 
next  rounded  summit,  some  two  miles  distant,  I  saw 
moving  black  objects  upon  it.  The  grouping  of  the 
objects  resembled  at  that  distance  a  couple  of  sledges, 
with  an  accompanying  party,  and  I  turned  and  shouted 


♦«t 

s 

'^^^^mf~    '  ^ 

m 

K 

Hi 

■■■■■HMta...dJltelk^. 

DOWN  THE  LAST  SLOPE. 


to  Astriip,  "  The  boys  are  out  looking  for  us."  At 
that  moment,  however,  the  members  of  the  other 
party  evidently  saw  us,  and  a  faint  cheer  came  across 
the  white  waste  to  our  ears.  The  objects  separated, 
and  I  could  see  there  were  seven  or  eight  in  all. 
Then  I  knew  there  was  a  ship  in  the  bay.  We  hur- 
ried rapidly  down  the  slope,  eager  once  more  for  the 
sight  of  familiar  faces.  The  other  party  at  the  same 
time  descended  from  the  eminence  on  which  they  had 


Eitrht  Thousand  Feet  above  the  Sea 


'Ci 


been,  and  in  a  very  short  time  I  grasped  Professor 
Heilprin's  hand,  and  greeted  the  other  members  of 
his  party,  who  were  struggling  eagerly  through  the 
deep,  heavy  snow. 

Never  was  meeting  more  effective  or  unique.  One 
month  to  a  day  before,  the  Kite,  with  Professor  Heil- 
prin  on  board,  turned  her  prow  northward  from  the 
harbour  of  St.  John's,  and  ever  since  had  been  steaming 
northward  through  the  blue  waves.     One  month  to  a 


THE  "KITE"  FLOATING  SNUGLY  AT  ANCHOR. 

day  before,  Astriip  and  myself  turned  our  faces  south- 
ward from  Musk-Ox  Valley  on  the  strange  northern 
shore,  and  ever  since  had  been  marching  southward 
over  the  frozen  waves  of  the  ice-cap.  Now  we  had 
met  on  this  great  ice  desert,  almost  out  of  sight  of 
land,  in  the  brilliant  lijjht  of  the  midnight  sun,  and 
the  courses  that  each  party  was  taking  were  such  that 
had  we  been  blindfolded  we  should  have  run  into  each 
other's  arms. 

Professor  Heilprin  and  his  party  turned  back  im- 
mediately, and,  chatting  with  various  members  of  the 
party,  the  time  flew  rapidly  as  we  covered  the  ten 
miles  between  us  and  the  bay.  About  two  o'clock 
in  the  morning,  I  stood  again  on  the  crest  of  the  bluff 
up  which  I  had  backed  my  sledges  more  than  three 


382       Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

months  before,  and  looked  down  upon  the  green,  ice- 
berg-dotted waters  of  McCormick  Bay,  with  the  Uttle 
Kite  floating  snugly  at  anchor  at  my  feet.  Never  did 
fairer  summer  vision  greet  human  eyes.  An  hour 
later  and  I  stepped  on  board  the  Kite.  My  wife's 
glad  cry  of  welcome  sounded  in  my  ears.  The  long 
White  March  was  ended. 


■Pi 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

BOAT    VOYAGE    INTO    INGLEFIELU    GULF. 

Meeting  with  my  Boys  at  Red  Cliff — Desire  to  Examine  North 
Shores  of  Gulf — Threatening  Weather — Karnah — Sculptured  Cliffs 
— BowDoiN  Kay — Enormous  Glaciers — A  Magnificent  Panorama — Mrs. 
Peary's  Kaiilillou-ah — An  Anoahi aksoah — Back  to  Red  Cliff. 


o 

a 

o 

n 

o 

u 
o 

< 


CHAPTER  XIV. 


BOAT    VOYAGE    INTO    INGLEFIELD    GULF. 


TWO  days  after  ni)- 
return  from  the 
ice-cap,  the  Kite 
steamed  down  the  bay, 
and  we  landed  through 
the  surf  in  a  sheltered 
cove  about  a  mile  below 
Red  ClifT.  As  Mrs.  Peary, 
Astrijp,  and  myself  came 
up  the  beach,  we  met  first, 
my  boys,  Verhoeff,  Dr. 
Cook,  Gibson,  rugged, 
bare-headed,  sun-burned ;  then,  a  little  farther,  the 
native  contingent  of  Red  Cliff  standing  in  wide-eyed 
wonder  to  see  the  kapitansoak  return  from  the  "  Great 
Ice."  Never  did  the  costliest  and  most  luxurious  home 
appear  more  delightful  to  the  eyes  of  a  returning 
traveller  than  the  little  7  by  1 2  state-room  at  Red 
Cliff,  to  which  Mrs.  Peary  had  given  the  imposing 
name  of  "  the  south  parlor." 

My  sledge  journey  round  Inglefield  Gulf  just  be- 
fore starting  upon  the  ice-cap  had  acquainted  me  only 
with  the  southern  shores.  Rough  ice  and  deeply 
drifted  snow  had  rendered  the  northern  shore  im- 
practicable. 

385 


b 
J 
3 
O 

Q 
_) 

m 

h 

u 
J 
o 
z 

Q 
2 

3 
O 

< 
a. 

H 

< 
o 
n 


Boat  Voyage  into  Inglefield  Gulf       387 

It  was  now  early  in  the  season,  there  was  no  special 
haste  forthe/vV/t'  to  turn  her  bow  southward,  and  the 
opportunity  to  examine  the  unknown  and  attractive 
shores  seemed  a  favourable  one.  Then,  too,  a  summer 
boat  voyage  offered  something  in  the  nature  of  a  picnic 
for  Mrs.  Peary  and  myself  after  our  long  separation, 
an  outing  which  should  be  free  of  the  rush  and  hurry 
of  preparation,  as  of  responsibility  or  anxiety  in  regard 


Verhoeff. 


Dr.  Cook.         Gibson. 


'WE  MET  MY  BOYS." 


to  the  future.  It  was  therefore  with  much  of  the 
feeling  of  a  school-boy  starting  for  a  week's  picnic 
in  the^woods,  that  I  started  from  Red  Cliff  at  noon 
on  August  gth  in  my  lightest  whale-boat,  the  Mary 
Peary,  manned  by  five  of  my  faithful  Eskimos,  Ko- 
monahpik,  Merktoshar,  Ingeropahdu  or  "  Freckles," 
his  son  Pooadloonah,  and  Koolootingwah,  with  Matt 
as  coxswain,  and  Mrs.  Peary  beside  me  in  the  stern- 
sheets. 


o 


88        Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 


The  weather  was  not  particularly  auspicious  ;  it  had 
been  blowing  with  a  o-reat  deal  of  freshness  ever  since 
my  return  from  the  ice-cap  the  night  of  the  6th,  and 
now  ominously  heavy  storm  clouds  hung  over  the 
entire  region  ;  3'et  this  was  too  slight  a  thing  to  in- 
terfere with  our  proposed  journey.  Rounding  the 
massive  reddish-grey  bastion  of  Cape  Cleveland,  the 
bow    of    the  Mary  Peary  was    headed  eastward  up 


CAPE  CLEVELAND. 
Typical  Bastion  Headland. 

the  gulf,  and  swept  rapidly  past  the  shores  of  the 
south  side  of  Red-Cliff  Peninsula.  A  few  miles  above 
Cape  Cleveland,  we  passed  the  dazzling  mass  of  the 
Fan  Glacier,  with  its  almost  mathematically  perfect 
semicircular  face,  and  equally  mathematically  per- 
fect semicircular  delta  in  front.  From  here  on  to 
Karnah — Cape  Ackland,  as  well  as  it  is  possible  to 
identify  it  on  the  charts, — the  south  coast  of  Red-Cliff 
Peninsula  is  made  up  of  a  succession  of  semicircular 


Boat  Voyage  into  Inglefield  Gulf       389 

deltas,  pushed  out  from  the  shore  in  front  of  a  series 
of  hanging  glaciers,  and  formed  by  the  debris  brought 
down   by  the  rushing  currents  from  these  glaciers  in 


FAN  GLACIER. 


early  summer.  So  strikingly  regular  is  the  contour 
of  these  deltas,  that  the  Eskimos  have  given  to  them 
a  name  which  means  eyebrow. 


^^asi^K::^         m 

Jo^bJHJ^^^^^^^I  1 

l^^^^^^m^  ■    "  -      """'TT^^TITT 

KARNAH  GLACIER. 

Typical  Glacier  and  Delta,  Southern  Shore  of  Red-Cliff  Peninsula. 

Back   of  these  deltas  and    a  low  fore-shore  which 
connects  them,  rises  a  series  of  rather  rolling  summits, 


390       Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

down  the  ravines  between  which  protrude  hanging 
glaciers,  tongues  of  the  central  ice-cap  of  the  peninsula. 
The  day,  in  spite  of  the  portent  of  the  dark  clouds 
overhead,  was  not  disagreeable  ;  gulf  and  sound  were 
free  of  sheet-ice,  only  occasional  bergs  and  fragments 
of  bero-s  breakincr  the  evenness  of  the  waves  which 
ruffled  the  surface  of  the  water,  and  to  me,  who  had 
seen  little  of  the  country  during  the  previous  sum- 
mer, and   who  for  the  immediately  preceding  three 


months  had  seen  nothinsj  but  the  blindine  alare  of 
the  "  Great  Ice,"  the  weather,  the  water,  the  warmth  of 
colouring  of  the  shores,  barren  as  they  were,  seemed 
almost  tropical.  Numerous  fragments  of  disrupted 
bergs,  grounded  along  the  beach  by  the  falling  tide, 
looked  from  the  boat  almost  like  flocks  of  grazing 
sheep. 

At   Karnah,  the  shore  forms  an  angle,  a  noisy  gla- 
cial river  comes  bounding  down  from  the  rocks,  and 


Boat  Voyage  into  Inglefield  Gulf       39' 


east  of  it  the  character  of  the  shore  changes  com- 
pletely. The  deltas,  the  low  fore-shore,  and  the  i  oil- 
ing mountains  give  place  to  a  line  of  majestic  sand- 
stone cliffs  which  rise  sheer  from  the  water. 

It  was  now  late  in  the  evening,  and  landing  at  the 
pointwepitched 
our  tent  within 
the  clamour  of 
the  glacial  river, 
and  prepared  for 
our  first  night's 
outing.  From 
this  Karnah 
point,  the  pro- 
file of  the  cliffs 
already  men- 
tioned, with  the 
distant  upper 
shores  of  the 
gulf  appearing 
just  past  their 
base,  is  one  of 
striking  bold- 
ness. Lulled  by 
the  rushing  gla- 
cial stream,  we 
slept  soundly, 
waking  several 
hours  later  to 
find  our  world 
covered  with  a 
light  mantle  of  newly  fallen  snow.  This  snow  dis- 
appeared as  the  sun  swung  upward  from  the  east,  and 
launching  the  Mary  Peary,  we  pulled  out  under  the 
great  cliffs,  among  a  labyrinth  of  bergs  and  berg  frag- 
ments.     All  the  forenoon  we  crept  along  under  the 


A  TITAN  WATCH-TOWER. 


392        Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

mighty  ramparts,  in  one  place  a  Titan  watch-tower,  in 
anotlier  a  giant  amphitheatre,  here  a  niche,  there  a 
bastion,  and  between  and  over  them  grouped  rows 
of  pinnacles  which  required  but  little  imagination  to 
transform  into  statues.  So  striking  is  the  resem- 
blance of  these  pinnacles  to  the  human  form,  that  it 
has  appealed  even  to  the  rather  unimaginative  sense 
of  the  Eskimos,  and  the  cliffs  are  known  to  them  as 
the  Statue  Cliffs.      In  numerous  places,  silver  threads 


SOUTH  GLACIER. 
Bowdoin  Bay. 

of  cascades  flow  down  the  cliffs  from  the  edge  of  the 
ice-cap  far  above. 

Much  of  this  time  it  was  raining,  and  as  we  rounded 
the  point  that  ends  this  striking  feature,  which  I  called 
the  -Sculptured  Cliffs  of  Karnah,  and  entered  a  little 
cove  curving  in  to  the  face  of  a  glacier,  we  were  only 
too  delighted  to  see  several  deer  crossing  the  slope, 
and  have  an  excuse  to  land  and  stretch  our  stiff  limbs 
in  an  effort  to  bagf  some  of  them.  Our  efforts,  how- 
ever,  were  unsuccessful,  and  re-entering  the  boat,  w^e 
left  this  little  bay,  the  water  of  which  is  red  almost  as 


Boat  Voyage  into  Inglefield  Gulf       393 

freshly  spilled  blood,  from  the  fine  red  sandstone  silt 
brought  down  by  the  sub-glacial  streams  of  the  two 
glaciers  which  enter  it,  and  pulled  steadily  along  close 
to  the  foot  of  the  bluffs  which  form  the  western  shore 
of  the  northward-stretching  fjord  which  Ikwa  had 
drawn  for  me  during  the  winter,  and  into  which  I 
had  looked  down  from  the  ice-cap  a  week  before. 
Penetrating  into  the  farthest  angle  of  the  head  of 


WEST  OR  GNOME  GLACIER. 
Bowdoin  Bay. 

this  fjord,  the  boat  was  beached  on  the  shore  of  a 
cove,  the  shallow  water  in  which  was  a  deep  red. 
The  head  of  this  cove  was  walled  by  a  huge  moraine 
thrown  up  by  a  glacier,  just  the  edge  of  which  ap- 
peared over  the  top  of  the  moraine.  Beyond  that, 
an  isolated  mountain  of  striking  boldness  and  sharp- 
ness of  outline  jutted  into  the  air  apparently  some 
two  thousand  feet,  and  then,  from  its  base,  the  crys- 
tal wall   of  a  great  glacier  stretched  clear  across  the 


394       Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

opposite  side  of  the  bay  head.  This  glacier  I  named, 
in  honour  of  my  Ahiia  Mater,  Bowdoin  Glacier,  and 
the  bay  I  called  Bowdoin  Bay.  The  cove  was  evi- 
dently the  favourite  rendezvous,  or  feeding-ground, 
of  the  kahkoktah,  or  white  whales,  which  abound  in 
this  region.  All  the  time  during  our  stay  at  this 
camp  their  pui^ng  could  be  heard,  and,  in  conse- 
quence, I  named  the  cove   Kahkoktah  Cove.     While 


VIEW  AT  HEAD  OF  BOWDOIN   BAY. 

Bowdoin  Glacier  in  Distance. 

at  this  camp,  one  of  my  hunters  went  up  the  bluffs 
and  obtained  two  fine  deer,  and  from  this  camp,  also, 
Verhoeff  left  us  on  his  proposed  trip  across  the  gla- 
cier, and  so  on  around  to  Red  Clift.  It  was  my  last 
sight  of  the  unfortunate  man. 

Next  noon,  in  a  continuance  of  rainy  weather,  I 
pushed  through  the  area  of  glacier  debris  which  filled 
the  centre  of  the  bay,  into  its  extreme  north-eastern 
corner,  to  a  little  cove  from  which  a  tiny  valley  ran 


Boat  Voyage  into  Inglefield  Gulf       395 

up   under  the   shadow  of  a  vertical-faced  mountain. 
It  was  the  very  place  down  into  which  I   had  looked, 


EAST  GLACIER. 
Bowdoiii  Bay. 


about  one  week  previous,  while  sweeping  down  the  icy 
slopes  of  the  "  Great  Ice"  to  the  head  of  McCorniick 


■^ 

-»»^-A           ;;, 

■*^- ■  ••«<pWW^||N*fflgg[gg|g^^^^^^^^^^^^^^J|||^^^^^^B[| 

■■■""■'■■■■■■'^■■■■-■■^^^'(^^^^^^^^^^^^■^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^KlI 

CASTLE  CLIFFS. 
Western  Point  of  Bowdoin  Bay. 


Bay,  and  had   thought,  at   that  time,  what   an  ideal 
site  for  an  arctic   house,  so  accessible  and  sheltered. 


39^       Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

In  this  instance,  distance  did  not  lend  enchantment 
to  the  view,  and  I  found  the  place  equally  as  attractive 
close  to,  as  my  fancy  had  pictured  it.  It  seemed,  in 
every  respect,  an  ideal  site  for  an  arctic  house.  Flow- 
ers and  grass  were  in  abundance,  a  stream  close  by 
offered  an  ample  supply  of  water,  and  the  mountains 
about  gave  promise  of  complete  protection  from  furi- 
ous winter  winds.     While  here,  Mrs.  Peary  was  for- 


FACE  OF  HUBBARD  GLACIER. 


tunate  in  shooting  two  more  deer,  and  then,  after 
another  rainy  night,  we  pulled  out  along  the  eastern 
shore  of  the  bay,  past  the  East  Glacier,  as  I  called 
it,  to  the  portal  of  the  baj-,  a  mass  of  warm,  red-brown 
cliffs,  eroded  by  the  arctic  sculptors,  in  which  bastions, 
towers,  and  ramparts  were  so  strikingly  like  some  medi- 
aeval strongholds  that  I  called  the  rocks  Castle  Cliffs. 
Rounding  these,  we   resumed  our  course  eastward 


Boat  Voyage  into  Inglefield  Gulf       397 

up  the  gulf.  A  few  miles  above  the  cliffs,  we  passed 
along  the  face  of  the  Hubbard  Glacier,  which  reaches 
the  waters  of  the  Sound  in  a  line  of  crystalline  blue 
ice-cliffs,  a  mile  or  more  in  length,  and  from  one  hun- 
dred to  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  in  height.  Beyond 
the  glacier  gneissose  precipices  form  the  shore,  and, 
rounding  another  bold  point,  we  looked  northward 
into  an  expansion  of  the  gulf,  rimmed  by  glistening 
glaciers,  separated  by  wild   and  towering  mountains. 


MOUNT  ADAMS. 


Here,  for  the  first  time,  I  obtained  a  view  of  those 
striking  peaks  to  which  I  applied  the  names  of  Mounts 
Adams,  Daly,  and  Putnam.  Still  eastward  of  us  was 
a  striking  precipitous  island,  and  I  headed  the  boat 
for  it.  Arriving  at  its  southern  point,  I  scaled  the 
nearly  vertical  cliffs  to  an  elevation  of  some  fifteen 
hundred  feet,  from  which  point  of  vantage  I  could 
sweep  the  entire  circuit  of  Inglefield  Gulf.  The  out- 
look was  a  striking  one  ;  from  north-west  (^true),  clear 


39^        Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

around  to  south-east  (true),  the  circuit  of  the  gulf  is 
an  almost  continuous  glistening  glacier  face.  Just  at 
the  water's  edge,  this  glacier  face  is  interrupted  by 
several  precipitous-walled,  flat-topped,  isolated  mount- 
ains, or  nunataks,  as  the  natives  call  them,  but  be- 
hind and  climbing  far  above  them  can  be  seen  the 
mighty  slope  of  the  "  Great  Ice,"  rising  to  the  infinite 
steel  blue  of  the  horizon  which  separates  sky  from 
snow  throughout  more  than  i8o°.  North  and  west 
of  me  lay  the  indentation  which  I  afterwards  called 
Navy   Bay  ;    its   head    surrounded  by  several   small 


MOUNT  PUTNAM. 


though  striking  glaciers.  North-east,  east,  and  south- 
east, the  giants  of  the  North-Greenland  ice-streams, 
the  Tracy,  Melville,  and  Heilprin  Glaciers,  swept 
down  in  frozen  rapids  and  cataracts  from  the  heart  of 
the  "  Great  Ice  "  to  the  sea.  The  three  Arctic  sfiants, 
Daly,  Adams,  and  Putnam,  with  the  astonishing  glacier 
panorama  extending  from  them  entirely  round  the  head 
of  the  gulf,  and  the  great  saucer-shaped  depression  in 
the  ice-cap,  distinctly  perceptible  above  glaciers  and 
nunataks,  till  it  reaches  the  steely  line  of  the  distant 
ice-cap  horizon,  present  a  scene  which  in  grandeur 
and  peculiarity  of  detail  can  be  duplicated,  I  believe, 
nowhere  else  upon  the  globe. 


Boat  Voyage  into  Inglefield  Gulf       399 

The  silent  sweep  of  that  enormous  amphitheatre 
in  the  ice-cap,  as  it  curves  down  to  the  mighty  portals 
of  the  great  ice-streams,  is  something  that  neither 
pen,  nor  brush,  nor  music  could  ever  hope  to  express. 
The  waters  of  the  gulf  were  everywhere  dotted  with 
the  countless  output  from  these  enormous  glacier 
faces,  an  innumerable  Heet  of  icebergs. 

Descending 
to  the  boat, 
we  pulled  up 
along  the  west- 
ern shore  of 
this  island, 
and  as  we 
advanced  I 
was  startled  to 
.  see  the  perfect 
profile  of  a 
giant  stone 
face  carved  on 
the  western 
bluff  of  the 
island.  To 
this  striking 
profile,  though 
bearded,  I  gave  the  name  of  the  Bronze  Sphinx,  feeling 
that  perhaps  in  the  arctic  regions  it  would  be  permis- 
sible for  even  a  sphinx  to  indulge  in  a  beard.  Directly 
in  front  of  this  profile,  carved  in  the  everlasting  arctic 
rock,  is  one  of  the  most  picturesque  of  the  glaciers  of  this 
region,  a  glacier  whose  picturesqueness  was  doubled  by 
the  peculiar  conditions  of  absolutely  mirror-like  water 
which  obtained  at  the  time  of  our  visit.  A  photograph 
shows  this  glacier  with  every  feature  duplicated  in  the 
water,  wnth  such  fidelity  and  symmetry  that  it  has 
brought  out  a  perfect  dorsal  view  of  a  lizard. 


THE   BRONZE  SPHINX. 


400        Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

Pulling  along  the  shore  of  the  island,  into  an  angle 
formed  by  the  cliffs  of  the  island  on  one  side,  and  the 
cliffs  of  a  glacier  on  the  other,  I  landed,  though  in  op- 
position to  the  judgment  of  my  natives,  who  had  their 
fears  in  regard  to  the  place,  on  account  of  the  waves 
which  might  be  caused  by  the  birth  of  an  iceberg  from 
the  glacier  close  by,  and  encamped  for  our  next  night's 
outing.  I  did  pay  sufficient  attention  to  the  fears  of 
my  natives  to  have  them  haul  the  boat  well  up  above 
the  highest  high-water  mark.  While  we  were  sleep- 
ing here,  one  of  my  own  hunters,  Koolootingwah, 
who    seemed    sleepless  and  tireless,  climbed    to    the 


HART  OR  LIZARD  GLACIER. 


crest  of  the  island,  and  when  I  wakened  in  the  morn- 
ing, he  proudly  informed  me  that  he  had  killed  four 
reindeer.  As  the  morning  gave  promise  of  a  glimpse 
of  the  sun,  which  thus  far  we  had  not  had  since  we 
left  Red  Cliff,  I  started  for  the  summit  of  the  island 
immediately  after  breakfast,  in  the  hopes  of  getting 
an  observation  and  a  round  of  angles.  Incidentally, 
also,  I  was  desirous  of  seeing  the  deer  which  my 
hunter  had  killed.  Sure  enough,  I  found  them  with- 
in a  distance  of  a  hundred  yards  of  each  other,  where 
he  had  crept  upon  them  and  shot  them  while  sleep- 
ing,— four  magnificent  bucks. 


Boat  Voyage  into  Inglefield  Gulf       401 

While  the  view  from  tlie  south  end  of  this  island 
was  almost  all  water,  from  this  northern  or  inner  end 
the  view  was  entirely  ice.  Here  the  frozen  waves  of 
the  oreat  o-laciers  beat  against  the  foot  of  the  island 
cliffs.  Some  of  the  ice-waves  of  one  of  these  glaciers — 
which  I  named  in  honour  of  that  splendid  big  fellow, 
Melville — although  frozen  and  immutable  as  marble, 
have  all  the  life  and  action  of  Niagara  Rapids.  On 
the  other  side  of  the  island,  the  lower  portion  of  the 
Tracy    Glacier  sweeps   away   towards   the    Smithson 


ICE-WAVES  OF  THE  MELVILLE  GLACIER. 

Mountains,  cut  by  parallel  lines  of  huge  crevasses 
which  stretch  away  mile  after  mile  into  the  distance, 
until  they  become  simply  waving  lines,  faint  yet  defi- 
nite as  those  from  a  graver's  tool.  The  orient  cliffs 
of  this  island  are  a  mass  of  rich  warm  colour.  Scat- 
tered over  its  summit  are  numerous  ereat  erratics, 
brought  here  at  a  time  when  the  glaciers  which  now 
flowed  hundreds  of  feet  below  me  swept,  perhaps, 
without  a  ripple  over  the  highest  peak. 

Descending  to   the  camp,  I   found  my  Eskimos   in 
a  state  of  excitement,  a  school  of  kahlillowah,  or  nar- 


402        Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

whal,  having  been  sighted  out  in  the  bay.  Immedi- 
ately the  boat  was  launched,  and  everyone  climbing 
in  except  Komonahpik,  who  got  into  his  kayak,  we 
started  out  in  pursuit.  With  a  little  coaching  on  the 
part  of  my  crew,  we  succeeded  in  getting  near  enough 
for  Mrs.  Peary  to  put  a  bullet  into  one  of  the  animals, 
and  then  a  dextrous  launch  of  the  harpoon  by  Ko- 
monahpik secured  him  from  sinking,  and  we  towed 
him  back  to  our  camp  and  pulled  him  high  up  on  the 
rocks.     Then  for  the  first  time  we  gazed   upon  the 


TRACY  GLACIER. 


Strange  peculiarities  of  this  original  of  the  fabled 
unicorn.  It  took  my  deft  natives  but  a  few  minutes 
to  skin  the  big  animal,  then,  piling  the  skin  and  some 
choice  cuts  of  meat  into  the  bottom  of  the  boat,  we 
resumed  our  voyage,  re-traversed  the  western  coast  of 
the  island  to  its  southern  point,  and  then  bore 
southward  directly  across  the  gulf  for  the  mouth  of 
Academy  Bay,  which  opened  black  and  unpromising 
beneath  a  canopy  of  leaden-coloured  clouds,  across  an 
apparently  impenetrable  mass  of  icebergs  and  ice. 
Threading  our  way  through  these,  and  having  a  bit  of 


Boat  Voyage  into  Inglefield  Gulf       403 

excitement  during  a  lively  squall  which  caught  us  in 
a  stretch  of  ice-free  water  and  wet  us  thoroughly  with 
the  vicious  waves,  we  reached  and  entered  Academy 
Bay.  Scarcely  had  we  pulled  any  distance  into  it,  be- 
fore we  encountered  one  of  the  furious  summer  squalls, 
so  common  in  this  region,  hurtling  out  of  the  bay 
with  a  fur)'  which  defied  all  attempts  to  make  head- 
way against  it.  As,  however,  we  had  but  a  short  dis- 
tance to  go  in  order  to  effect  a  landing  behind  a  little 


ORIENT  CLIFFS  OF  JOSEPHINE   PEARY  ISLAND. 

island,  we  succeeded,  by  keeping  close  to  the  shore  and 
taking  advantage  of  the  gusts,  in  reaching  the  desired 
spot.  Here  we  camped  for  one  wild  night,  expect- 
ing every  moment  to  have  the  tent  torn  from  over 
our  heads,  although  it  was  weighted  down  with  half  a 
ton  of  rocks  ;  with  the  spray  which  broke  over  a 
barrier  of  icebergs  that  had  jammed  against  the  island, 
flying  over  us  ;  and  the  gusts  of  the  anoahtaksoah,  as 
the  natives  call  these   wild   storms,  bowline  down  the 


404        Northward  over  the  "  Great  Ice  " 

bay  past  us  like  an  army  of  mad  demons.  In  the 
morning  the  wind  had  subsided,  yet  never  have  I  seen 
such  savage  shapes  and  masses  of  wicked  clouds, 
shifting  and  boiling  in  angry  turmoil  just  above  the 
summits  of  the  black  cliffs  above  us. 

I  did  not  care  to  risk  taking  the  boat  up  the  bay, 
so  climbed  along  the  shore  with  two  of  the  Eskimos 
to  a  point  where  I  could  command  its  head,  and  there 


ERRATICS  ON   SUMMIT  OF  JOSEPHINE   PEARY  ISLAND. 
Mt.  Lee  and  Inland  Ice  in  Distance. 

see  sweeping  entirely  across  it,  from  vertical  cliff  to 
vertical  cliff,  the  glistening  face  of  the  Leidy  Glacier, 
and  beyond  that,  the  mighty  stream  of  the  glacier 
itself  flowing  down  between  ragged  nunataks  from  the 
heart  of  the  "  Great  Ice."  The  water  was  like  ink  as 
we  pulled  across  the  mouth  of  Academy  Bay  towards 
little  Ptarmigan  Island,  on  which  we  had  rested  on  the 
sledge  journey  of  the  spring,  and  I  kept  an  anxious 
eye  out  for  more  squalls.     Just   inside  of  the  island 


Boat  Voyage  into  Inglefield  Gulf       405 

was  a  small  settlement  of  PIskimos,  and  landing  to  com- 
municate with  them,  I  found  them  revelling  in  veni- 
son and  with  numbers  of  fresh  deerskins  in  their  tents, 
trophies  of  their  bows  and  arrows.  This  place  is  on 
the  confines  of  the  great  deer  pastures  of  this  region. 


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MRS.   PEARY  AND   HER  KAHLII.LOW AH. 

Stopping  here  only  an  hour  or  so  to  limber  our- 
selves up,  and  try  to  get  a  little  warmth  into  clothing 
which  had  been  saturated  almost  from  the  moment 
of  our  leaving  Red  Cliff,  we  again  pulled  on  close  to 
the  shore  of  the  south  side  of  the  gulf.  We  had  a 
hard  struggle  with  the  tide,  which  runs  here  like 
a    mill-race,   swirling    in    eddies  around  every  rocky 


4o6       Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

point.  Night  overtook  us  before  we  had  gone  very  far, 
and  landing  at  the  only  available  place  along  several 
miles  of  shore,  we  made  our  preparations  for  the  night. 
From  here  the  next  day  we  kept  on  down  the 
south  shore  past  the  face  of  the  Hurlburt  Glacier, 
and  then  bore  straight  across  the  gulf  for  Karnah. 
The  trip  across  was  uneventful ;  we  were  fortunately 
not  troubled  by  wind,  and  once  within  the  shelter  of 
the  iceberg  flotilla,  which  is  always  sweeping  along 


LOOKING  OUT  OF  ACADEMY  BAY. 


the  Karnah  shore,  we  felt  safe.  Again  we  landed 
at  Karnah,  intending  to  spend  the  night  there,  but 
after  a  generous  repast  and  plenty  of  hot  tea,  we 
felt  so  much  refreshed  that  it  was  the  opinion  of 
everyone  we  should  push  on  to  Red  Cliff  without 
delay.  As  long  as  my  crew  felt  this  way,  I  was  only 
too  glad,  and  hastily  stowing  our  things  in  the  Mary 
Peary  again,  we  pulled  off  from  the  beach  and  headed 
westward  for  Cape  Cleveland. 


Boat  Voyage  into  Inglefield  Gulf       407 

When  about  half-way  on  our  journey,  a  favouring 
wind  sprang  up,  to  which  the  Mary  Peary  s  foresail 
was  spread  and  she  dashed  on  bravely  before  it,  the 
wind  increasing  in  intensity  until,  as  we  reached  Cape 
Cleveland,  it  was  blowing  half  a  gale,  and  required  a 
good  deal  of  skill  on  Matt's  part  to  steer  the  Mary 
Peary  clear  of  the  numerous  lumps  of  ice  which  lay 
in  our  way,  as  she  swept,  literally,  almost  like  an 
arrow,   through  the  white-capped  waves.      Rounding 


THE  ICEBERG  BREAKWATER. 


the  point  of  Cape  Cleveland  with  a  rush,  we  ran  into 
a  dead  calm,  but  had  scarcely  got  the  sail  rolled  up 
and  the  mast  unstepped  in  readiness  for  rowing,  when 
I  saw  a  squall  coming  down  McCormick  Bay  to  meet 
us  just  as  it  had  come  down  Academy  Bay.  Bring- 
ing the  boat  close  into  the  shore,  we  met  the  squall 
as  best  we  could,  yet,  with  the  utmost  efforts  on  our 
part,  it  was  several  hours  before  we  succeeded  in 
reaching  the  shelter  of  the  little  point,  less  than  two 


4o8        Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

miles  from  the  cape,  and  there  beached  the  boat  and 
landed. 

Walking  up  the  shore  to  Red  Cliff  House,  we  saw 
the  Kite  still  at  anchor  off  the  beach.  Sending  word 
out  to  Professor  Heilprin  that  I  had  returned,  we 
were  only  too  glad  to  remove  our  saturated  clothing, 
and  after  a  hot  meal,  turn  in  for  a  dry  night's  rest. 


LEIDY  GLACIER. 
Head  of  Academy  Bay. 

This  boat  voyage  of  something  like  a  week's  dura- 
tion was,  in  spite  of  the  hostility  of  the  weather,  a 
very  enjoyable  one,  and  the  variety  and  character  of 
the  scenery  observed  during  the  voyage  made  it  long 
to  be  remembered.  The  pictures  accompanying  this 
chapter  give  a  clear  and  consecutive  impression  of 
the  summer  aspect  and  beautiful  and  striking  features 
of  this  greatest  and  most  interesting  of  Greenland 
inlets. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

SEARCH    FOR    VERHOEFP,    AND    HOMEWARD    VOYAGE. 

Verhoeff  Fails  to  Return— Search  Immediately  Instituted  and 
Prosecuted  for  Six  Days  and  Nights — Tracks  on  the  Glacier — No 
Hope — Farewell  to  Red  Cliff — Atanekerdluk-Godhaab — St.  John's — 
Philadelphia. 


CHAPTER    XV. 


SEARCH    FOR    VERHOEFF,    AND    HOMEWARD    VOYAGE. 


1 


FOUND  that  Gibson 
was  away,  with  Mr. 
Bryant  of  Professor 
Heilprin's  party,  at  Five- 
Glacier  Valley,  to  bring 
Verhoeff  home.  Gibson 
had  landed  Verhoeff  at  the 
valley  a  few  days  after  he 
left  me  at  the  head  of 
Bowdoin  Bay,  to  enable 
him  to  make  an  overland 
trip  to  the  Eskimo  settle- 
ments in  Robertson  Bay,  and  was  to  go  after  him  at 
the  expiration  of  a  certain  time.  The  next  day  the 
boat  returned,  but  without  Verhoeff.  The  immediate 
inference  was  that  he  had  become  bewildered  and 
lost  somewhere  in  the  region  between  McCormick 
and  Robertson  Bays. 

The  work  of  packing  my  impedimenta  to  send  on 
board  the  Kite  was  stopped  immediately,  and  hastily 
fitting  the  Mary  Peary  with  supplies,  I  jumped  into 
her  with  Gibson  and  a  crew  of  my  best  Eskimos, 
and,  hoisting  sail,  sped  away  for  the  mouth  of  the  val- 
ley. The  Kite  hoisted  anchor  and,  with  the  remaining 
natives  whom  1   had  sent  aboard,  steamed  away  to 


411 


412        Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

Robertson  Bay.  Reaching  the  mouth  of  the  valley, 
we  had  a  substantial  meal  all  around,  then  started  up 
the  valley  with  all  my  Eskimos,  after  having  promised 
the  man  who  first  saw  Verhoeff  a  rifle  and  as  much 
ammunition  as  he  cared  for.  This  was  the  iSth. 
Deploying  the  natives  in  a  line,  the  individuals  in 
which  were  separated  by  less  than  one  hundred  feet, 
they  reached  clear  across  the  contracted  valley,  from 
cliff  to  cliff,  and  slowly  advanced  up  its  length,  shout- 
ing and   discharging  rifles  at  regular  intervals.     So 


"MANY   WERE  THE   INTERESTING  GROUPS.' 

thorough  and  minute  was  the  search  that,  on  the  way, 
we  found  a  handkerchief  and  a  knife,  which  had  been 
dropped  by  the  Five-Glacier- Valley  hunting-party  the 
previous  October.  No  signs  of  Verhoeff  were  seen, 
however,  though  we  swept  the  valley  until  we  came 
out  on  the  crest  of  the  bluff  beyond  its  head,  looking 
down  into  Robertson  Bay. 

Returning  to  McCormick  Bay  on  the  21st,  I  found 
the  Kite  anchored  off  the  mouth  of  the  valley.  No 
trace  of  Verhoeff  had  been  found  in  Robertson  Bay. 
I  detailed  four  or  five  of  the  best  Eskimos  to  Gibson, 


Search  for  Verhoeff — Homeward  Voyage     4' 3 

and  instructed  him  to  take  several  days'  supplies  and 
proceed  up  the  valley  again  and  scour  the  region 
north  and  west  of  it,  clear  up  to  the  edge  of  the  great 
glacier  which  flows  down  into  the  head  of  Robertson 
Bay,  then  to  follow  down  the  side  of  the  glacier  to 
the  bay  itself.  With  the  rest  of  the  Eskimos  and 
my  whale-boat,  I  started  along  the  shore  of  McCor- 
mick  Bay,  to  carefully  examine  every  foot  of  it,  clear 


«..|^ 

H 

UI&\^\^M 

■      ri     ■-T*^-*^! 

""''"*''"■,  '»?^-s|/ 

ft            __^               ■ ,  ■. 

S3- 

MRS.   PEARY  DISTRIBUTING  HOUSEHOLD  UTENSILS. 

round  into  the  head  of  Robertson  Bay,  where  I  would 

effect  a  junction   with   Gibson.      The  Kite,   later  on, 

was   to   follow   me   into    Robertson    Bay.      The  most 

careful  examination  of  the  shore   discovered  not  the 

slightest  trace  of   Verhoeff.      Reachino;  the   head   of 

.       .  .  .  ^ 

the   bay,  and   communicating  with   Gibson,  who  had 

come  down   the  side  of  the   glacier,  I  found  that  the 

natives  had  discovered   traces  of   the   missing  man, — 


414      Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

footprints  along  the  side  of  the  glacier.  Picking  these 
up,  we  immediately  followed  them  up  on  to  the  glacier 
itself,  and  for  a  little  distance  on  its  surface,  when 
they  disappeared  upon  the  unyielding  surface  of  the 
ice.  I  then  divided  my  Eskimos  into  three  parties. 
Two  of  these  were  to  start  at  the  water's  edge  and 
follow  each  side  of  the  glacier  with  the  utmost  care,  to 
find  where  Verhoeff  had  left  the  glacier.  Professor 
Heilprin,  with  his  party,  and  I,  with  two  of  the  best 
trailers  in  the  entire  tribe,  quartered  the  surface  of 


PRICELESS  TREASURES  FROM  PHILADELPHIA  FRIENDS. 

the  glacier  itself  in  every  direction,  to  see  if  we  could 
find  any  more  tracks.  Our  utmost  efforts  were  un- 
availing, although  the  tracks  were  distinct,  passing  up 
on  to  the  glacier.  At  no  place  in  the  entire  periphery 
of  the  great  ice-stream  was  there  any  track  or  trace  of 
a  man  having  left  the  glacier.  The  inference  was  un- 
avoidable :  Verhoeff,  crossing  the  glacier,  in  thick 
weather  perhaps,  had  slipped  and  fallen  into  one  of 
innumerable  yawning  crevasses.  The  accident  was 
the  same  as  those  which  occur  almost  annually  in  the 
glaciers  of  the  Alps.      The  great  ice-stream  where  he 


Search  for  Verhoeff — Homeward  Voyage     415 

met    his    untimely    end    bears    now    the     name     of 
Verhoeff.' 

It  is  needless  to  say  that  this  accident  cast  the  deep- 


FAREWELL  TO  OUR  GREENLAND  HOME. 

est  gloom  upon  every  member  of  both  parties  ;  it  was 
so  sudden,    so  unexpected,   like  a  flash  of  lightning 

'  This  search  for  Verhoeff.  prosecuted  for  six  days  and  nights  by  all  the 
members  of  my  party  and  Professor  Heilprin's,  the  Kite's  crew,  and  nine 
Eskimos,  the  latter  excited  to  the  utmost  by  the  promise  of  a  rifle  and  a  box 
of  ammunition  to  the  first  who  saw  Verhoeff.  was  discontinued  only  when  it 
was  the  conviction  of  everyone  that  there  was  no  longer  any  ground  for  hope. 


4i6       Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

from  a  clear  sky,  occurrinij  as  it  did  in  the  height  of 
the  summer,  after  all  the  possibilities  of  the  winter  and 
of  the  ice-cap  work  had  been  surmounted  without  the 


least  accident. 


I  could  think  of  nothing  else  as  the 


THE   GIANT  OF  ATANEKERDLUK. 

Weathered  Pinnacle  of  a  Trap  Dyke. 


Kite,  on  the  24th,  after  six  days  of  unremitting  search, 
slowly  swung  out  of  Robertson  Bay  on  her  way  back 
to  Red  Cliff.  I  still  clung  to  the  hope  that  possibly 
Verhoeff  might  still  be  alive,  and  on  this  possibility  I 


Search  for  Verhoeff — Homeward  Voyage     417 

landed  at  Cape  Robertson  ample  provisions  for  one 
man  for  more  than  a  year,  and  I  impressed  upon  the 
natives  that  they  were  to  make  every  effort  to  find 
Verhoeff,  and  if  at  any  time  he  should  come  into  any 
of  their  settlements,  they  were  to  take  the  utmost 
care  of  him,  as  they  would  of  me,  and  that  when  I  re- 


VERDANT  RAVINE  AT  ATANEKERDLUK. 

turned  the  following  summer,  as  I  intended  to  do,  I 
should  reward  them  beyond  their  wildest  dreams. 

Arriving  at  Red  Cliff,  I  broke  the  sad  news  of  the 
results  of  our  search  to  Mrs.  Peary,  and  then  with 
heavy  heart  completed  the  work  of  packing  my  speci- 
mens and  remaining  material  to  send  on  board  the 
ship.  The  weather,  which  during  our  search  for  Ver- 
hoeff had  been  of  the  most  disagreeable  nature,  snow 
falling  every  night,  changed   now  and  gave  us  one  or 


4i8       Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 


two  perfect  days.  The  warmth  and  Hght  upon  the 
beach  along  Red  CHff  were  ahiiost  tropical  in  their  char- 
acter. Many  were  the  interesting  groups,  yet  I  had 
little  heart  for  them.  Mrs.  Peary  distributed  the 
household  utensils  to  the  delighted  women  of  the 
village,  and  then  both  men  and  women  were  assem- 
bled in  line  upon  the  beach,  and  everything  that  I  did 

not  care  to  take  home 
with  me  given  to  them, 
together  with  untold 
wealth  sent  them  by  kind 
friends  of  the  expedition 
in  Philadelphia,  in  the 
shape  of  wood,  knives, 
iron  kettles,  etc. — treas- 
ures priceless  to  the  Es- 
kimo mind. 

Then,  at  the  last  mo- 
ment, Mrs.  Peary  and  I 
stepped  from  the  door 
of  our  little  room  out- 
side the  now  dismantled 
house,  and  said  farewell 
to  our  first  Greenland 
home.  An  hour  or  two 
later,  the  Kites  propeller 
was  driving  her  out  of 
McCormick  Bay  just  as 
it  had  driven  her  a  little  more  than  a  year  ago,  only 
now  there  were  but  the  original  inhabitants  of  the 
country  left  upon  the  shore. 

Steaminof  southward  throuofh  several  uneventful 
days,  our  first  stop  was  made  at  the  fossil-beds  of 
Atanekerdluk  in  the  Waigatt.  Here  a  perfect  sum- 
mer day  was  put  in,  and  the  geological  members  of 
Professor  Heilprin's  Expedition  delved  for  the  fossils 


THE  PROFESSOR. 


Search  for  Verhoeff — Homeward  Voyage     419 

with  which  the  locaUty  is  rich,  while  Mrs.  Peary  and 
myself  wandered  like  children  out  of  school  up  the 
grassy  and  mossy  ravines  and  across  the  warm-hued 
slopes.  All  were  satisfied  with  the  call  here — the 
Professor  and  his  party  with  their  fossils,  Mrs.  Peary 
and  myself  with  our  run  ashore. 

A  brief   stop  was    made  at   Godhavn,   to  tell  our 


GODHAAB. 


friends  there  of  our  fortunes  and  successes,  then  the 
Kite  steamed  away  for  the  other  Greenland  capital, 
Godhaab  of  the  Southern  Inspectorate.  This  place 
seemed  quite  like  a  metropolis  as  compared  with  God- 
havn. It  has  quite  a  pretentious  chapel,  and  a  short 
distance  away  is  the  long,  low  building  of  the  old 
Moravian  Mission  establishment.  We  made  many 
pleasant  acquaintances  here,  among  them  white-haired 


420       Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

Inspector  Fencker  and  his  wife,  with  their  pleasant- 
faced  young  daughter,  who,  in  her  seventeen  years  of 
hfe,  has  never  been  out  of  Greenland.  While  here, 
too,  some  of  the  kayakers  of  the  place  treated  us  to 
an  exhibition  of  the  characteristic  aquatic  feats  of 
these  South-Greenland  amphibious  hunters, — jump- 
ing  one    canoe   over   the   other,   turning  somersault 


CHAPEL  AT  GODHAAB. 


after  somersault  in  the  water,  etc.  Returning  to  the 
ship  after  an  evening  spent  at  the  Inspector's  house, 
it  suddenly  struck  me  as  I  looked  across  the  harbour, 
picturesque  in  its  night  shadows,  that  we  were  really 
approaching  God's  country  once  more.  We  actually 
had  a  civilised  night  and  day  now. 

Leaving     Godhaab,     fresh     northerly    and     north- 
westerly winds  kept  the  little  Kite  heeling,  every  sail 


Search  for  Verhoeff — Homeward  Voyage     421 

swelling  like  a  balloon,  and   the  foaming  spray  driv- 
ing from  her  sturdy  little  prow,  day  after  day,  until 


J^ 

i  f 

n 

""~*r-*i. 

"«*»*... 

MORAVIAN   MISSION. 


at   last  we    made   the   harbour   of    St.   John's,    New- 
foundland. 

Entering  the  Narrows,  a  cry  of  surprise  and   as- 


SOMERSAULT    IN    KAYAK. 


tonishment  burst  from  the  members  of  the  ship's  crew. 
The  town  which  we  had  left  a  little  more  than  a  year 


42  2       Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

ago  existed  no  longer, — only  a  stretch  of  gaunt,  black 
ruins.  A  few  weeks  after  the  Kite  had  left  it  on  her 
upward  voyage,  fire  had  swept  the  place  completely. 
Fortunately  it  had  not  touched  the  residence  of  the 
genial  and  hospitable  owner  of  the  Kite,  Edgar  Bowr- 
ing,  and  with  him  and  his  charming  wife  Mrs.  Peary 
and  myself  were  domiciled  during  our  short  stay  in 
St.  John's,  while  the  Kite  took  on  more  coal  for  her 
voyage  to  Philadelphia. 

From  St.  John's  to  Philadelphia  the  voyage  was  un- 


JUMPING  ONE  KAYAK   OVER   ANOTHER. 

eventful  and  monotonous,  head-winds  holding  us  back. 
At  last,  however,  we  passed  the  Delaware  Break- 
water, and,  a  short  distance  below  Philadelphia,  saw 
the  tug  chartered  by  our  friends  coming  down  the 
river  to  meet  us.  Soon  they  were  on  board,  our 
story  was  told,  and  the  North-Greenland  Expedition 
of  i8gi  and  1892  was  at  an  end. 

An  aftermath  of  this  was  the  overflowing  recep- 
tion at  the  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences,  when  our 
numerous  friends  and  well-wishers  in  and  about 
Philadelphia    had    the    opportunity    of    meeting    the 


Search  for  VerhoefiT — Homeward  Voyage     423 

returning  members  of  the  expedition,  and  discov- 
ered, much  to  the  surprise  of  many,  that  men  and 
even  women  could  Hve  for  a  year  or  so  in  Green- 
land, and  return  not  only  alive,  but  in  entirely  normal 
condition. 

The  elimination  of  the  work  of  any  member  of  my 
party  would  have  detracted  very  largely  from  the  suc- 
cess of  the  expedition. 


THE   HARBOUR  PICTURESQUE  IN  NIGHT  SHADOWS. 

To  Dr.  Cook's  care  may  be  attributed  the  almost 
complete  exemption  of  the  party  from  even  the 
mildest  indispositions,  and  personally  I  owe  much  to 
his  professional  skill,  and  unruffled  patience  and  cool- 
ness in  an  emergency.  In  addition  to  his  work  in  his 
special  ethnological  field,  in  which  he  has  obtained  a 
large   mass  of  most   valuable   material   concernine  a 


424        Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

practically  unstudied  tribe,  he  was  always  helpful  and 
an  indefatigable  worker. 

Verhoeff,  besides  contributing  generously  to  the 
expense  of  the  expedition,  was  devoted  to  his  meteoro- 
logical and  tidal  observations  and  made  a  complete 
and  valuable  series  of  both. 

Gibson,  a  natural  hunter,  quick  with  rifle  and  gun, 
in  addition  to  his  ornithological  work,  contributed 
more  largely  than  any  other  member  of  the  party  to 
our  supply  of  game. 


FIRE-SWEPT  ST.  JOHN'S. 


Astriip,  a  young  Norwegian,  a  boy  in  years,  but  a 
man  in  grit  and  endurance,  was  one  among  a  thousand 
for  the  long  and  lonely  journey  during  which  he  was 
my  sole  companion. 

Henson,  my  faithful  coloured  boy,  a  hard  worker 
and  apt  at  anything,  being  in  turn  cook,  hunter,  dog 
driver,  housekeeper,  and  body-guard,  showed  himself, 
in  powers  of  endurance  and  ability  to  withstand  cold, 
the  equal  of  others  in  the  party. 

My  acknowledgments  of  my  obligations  to  the 
members  of  my  party  would  be  incomplete  without 


Search  for  Verhoeff — Homeward  Voyage     425 

reference  to  Mrs.  Peary.  Outside  of  the  unspeakable 
comfort  of  her  soothing  presence  in  the  time  when  at 
the  threshold  of  a  field  of  effort,  in  which  pure  brute 
physical  fitness  and  strength  are  a  si/w  qua  )ion,  I 
found  myself  a  helpless  cripple,  I  feel  that  I  speak 
without  prejudice  when   I   say  that  to  her  womanly 


SOUTHWARD    WITH    BELLYING   SAILS. 

presence  at  all  times  and  her  valuable  assistance  and 
suggestions,  especially  in  regard  to  our  clothing  out- 
fit, the  expedition  owes  much. 

The  experience  of  the  expedition  proved  conclu- 
sively to  me  the  correctness  of  my  theory  as  to  the 
quality   of    the    personnel    of    an    Arctic    expedition, 


426        Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

namely,  that   it  should  be  composed  entirely  of  men 
of  youth,  perfect  health,  and  educated  intelligence. 

Such  men,  imbued  with  an  interest  in  their  work 
and  the  success  of  the  expedition,  able  to  lift  them- 
selves beyond  the  gloom  and  inactivity  of  the  present, 


"OUR  FRIENDS  COMING  TO  MEET  US." 

with  plans  for  the  work  of  the  future,  and  possessing 
resources  within  themselves,  are  able  to  resist  in  a 
maximum  degree  the  depressing  and  demoralising 
effect  of  the  long  winter  night,  and  in  the  field  their 
ardour  and  dlaii  more  than  balance  their  inexperience 
or  lack  of  toughened  endurance. 


CHAPTER   XVI. 

METEOROLOGICAL    NOTES 

FROM 

AUGUST,     1 89 1,    TO    MARCH,     l8g2,    INCLUSIVE, 

BY 

John  M.  Verhoeff. 


VERHOEFF  AND  TIDE  GAUGE. 


CHAPTER   XVI. 


METEOROLOGICAL   NOTES VERHOEFF. 


August,  iSgi. 


DURING  the  early 
part  of  August 
there  was  much 
rain,  but  later  the  weather 
became  much  better; 
however,  focrs  were  not 
infrequent. 

There  were  no  great 
changes  in  temperature, 
but  the  record  is  incom- 
plete, owing  to  my  ab- 
sence at  times  from  Red 
Cliff  House  and  to  other  causes. 

The  hours  for  making  meteorological  observations 
were  seven  a.m  ,  two  p.m.,  and  nine  p.m.    At  seven  a.m., 

'  These  notes  are  just  as  handed  to  me  by  Verhoeff  previous  to  my  departure 
on  the  ice-cap  march. 

His  observations  for  April,  May,  June,  and  July,  1S92,  if  ever  summarised  by 
him,  were  never  given  to  me. 

These  notes  give  but  little  idea  of  the  minute  and  voluminous  observations 
made  by  Verhoeff,  observations  which  were  his  pride,  and  with  which  no  stress 
of  weather  was  ever  allowed  to  interfere. 

When  his  records  are  worked  up  by  an  expert,  as  they  will  be,  they  will  form 
a  striking  monument  to  the  faithful,  conscientious  worker,  who  lost  his  young 
life  on  the  cruel  glacier,— a  monument  of  which  his  sorrowing  sister  and  his  other 
relatives  and  friends  may  well  be  proud. 

429 


430       Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

the  maximum  and  minimum  temperatures  for  the  pre- 
ceding twenty-four  hours  were  also  obtained. 

There  were  nineteen  days  on  which  three  ob- 
servations were  taken  ;  August  3,  4,  5,  6,  7,  8,  9, 
10,  II,  21,  22,  23,  24,  25,  26,  27,  28,  29,  30  being 
those  days. 

The  mean  daily  average  of  these  is  37.53°.'  On  the 
1 2th,  1 8th,  19th,  20th,  and  31st,  one  or  two  observa- 
tions were  taken.  If  we  count  in  these  five  days,  the 
twenty-four  days  average  37.84°,  thus  varying  less  than 
one-third  of  a  decree  from  the  orioinal  result.  If  one 
notes  the  fact  that,  of  the  remaining  seven  days,  only 
one,  the  1 7th,  was  in  the  latter  half  of  month,  the  con- 
clusion might  be  drawn  that,  if  these  days  could  be 
counted  in,  the  average  would  be  higher. 

However,  I  do  not  think  that  those  days  could  ma- 
terially alter  the  average,  certainly  not  over  one-half  a 
degree. 

The  average  of  the  nine  days  noted  in  early  part  of 
month  is  ^,7.2,3°- 

The  average  of  the  ten  days  noted  in  latter  half  of 
month  is  37.62°. 

While  on  a  trip  to  Hakluyt  and  Northumberland 
Islands,  August  12-18,  the  highest  temperature  noted 
was  48°  on  Hakluyt  Island,  August  13,  at  two  p.m. 

Lowest  was  39°  on  Hakluyt  Island.  August  13,  at 
ten  P.M.,  and  August  14,  at  eight  a.m. 

There  was  no  maximum  or  minimum  thermometer 
used,  or  the  ma.ximum  temperature  shown  would  doubt- 
less have  been  higher  and  minimum  lower. 

Highest  temperature  during  August  at  Red  Cliff 
House  was  52°  on  the  19th,  as  shown  by  maximum 
thermometer  the  following  morning  at  seven  a.m. 

On  the  20th,  2 2d,  and  23d,  the  temperature  rose  as 
high  as  50°. 

'  All  temperatures  are  given  in  degrees  Fahrenheit. 


Meteorological  Notes — Verhoeft        43  ^ 

The  lowest  temperature  was  29°,  as  shown  by  mini- 
mum thermometer  August  28,  at  seven  a.m. 

The  reading  of  barometer  was  taken  since  August 
18,  after  return  from  Hakluyt  Island. 

Highest  noted  was  30.38  inches,  August  20,  at 
9.20  P.M. 

Lowest  noted  was  August  23,  at  seven  a.m.,  also 
August  24,  at  3.10  P.M.  and  5.07  p.m.,  29.825  inches. 

Average  temperature,  fresh  water  40°;  sea  2)7°- 

September,  iSgi. 

Record  for  September  is  not  quite  complete  owing 
to  my  trips  from  Red  Cliff  House.  There  were  eight- 
een days  when  three  daily  observations  were  made. 
September  i,  2,  3,  12,  14,  15,  16,  19,  20,  21,  22,  24, 
25,  26,  27,  28,  29,  30  are  those  days,  and  average 
21.74°.  I  made  one  or  two  observations  September 
4,  II,  13,  17,  18,  and  23. 

From  the  4th  to  the  i  ith,  inclusive.  Matt,  our  negro 
cook,  was  alone  at  Red  Cliff  House,  and  at  seven  a.m. 
of  each  day  he  took  the  maximum  and  minimum 
temperatures  for  the  preceding  twenty-four  hours. 
By  taking  a  mean  of  these  temperatures,  with  the 
exception  of  one  day,  the  6th,  when  it  is  very  proba- 
ble he  made  a  mistake,  and  counting  in  the  days  when 
I  made  one  or  two  observations,  every  day  in  the 
month  except  two  can  be  counted. 

The  1 8th  is  the  second  day  elided,  because  of  my 
trip  to  the  boat  camp  at  south-eastern  corner  of  Mc- 
Cormick  Bay.  The  average  of  the  twenty-eight  days 
mentioned  is  23.28°,  being  thus  i-|^°  above  the  average 
of  the  eighteen  days  when  three  observations  were 
m.ade.  The  rise  in  temperature  by  averaging  twenty- 
eight  days  is  probably  due  to  the  fact  that  of  the  ten 
days  added  seven  are  in  the  early  half  of  the  month. 


432       Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

The  highest  temperature  was  40°,  September  i,  as 
shown  by  maximum  thermometer,  September  2,  at 
seven  a.m.  ;  the  maximum  probably  occurred  in  the 
early  afternoon. 

Lowest  temperature  was  8°,  on  the  morning  of  Sep- 
tember 30,  at  5.20  A.M.,  as  shown  by  minimum  ther- 
mometer. 

It  is  thus  seen  that  the  maximum  temperature  oc- 
curred on  the  first,  and  the  minimum  on  the  last  day 
of  the  month. 

The  highest  barometer  reading  was  30.32  inches, 
September  19,  at  10.45  '^•'^■• 

The  lowest  barometer  reading  was  29.535  inches, 
September  29,  at  six  a.m. 

During  the  month,  many  of  the  icebergs  had  left 
the  bay,  but  some  were  still  present  September  27, 
at  which  date  the  formation  of  new  ice  in  the  bay  was 
noticed. 

October,  i8gi. 

The  record  for  October  is  practically  complete  as 
regards  the  state  of  weather.  Though  occasionally 
absent,  the  observations  were  taken,  leaving  no  gaps 
as  before. 

The  mean  daily  temperature  was  8.57°. 

The  highest  temperature  was  25°,  on  the  7th,  as 
shown  by  the  maximum  thermometer  on  the  7th,  at 
seven  a.m. 

The  lowest  temperature,  as  shown  by  the  minimum 
thermometer,  October  29,  at   seven  a.m.,  was  -  15^°. 

The  highest  barometer  reading  was  30. 1 1  inches, 
on  the  28th. 

The  lowest  barometer  reading  was  29.37  inches,  on 
the  8th. 

Ice  in  the  bay  was  about  four  inches  thick  on  the  2d, 
and  about  seventeen  inches  thick  at  close  of  month. 


Meteoroloo:ical  Notes — Verhoeff        433 


^b 


November,  iSgi. 

The  mean  daily  temperature  for  November  was 
O.I  6°. 

The  maximum  temperature  was  30^°,  as  shown  by 
the  maximum  thermometer,  November  19,  at  nine  p.m. 

On  this  day,  the  rise  in  temperature  was  remarkable 
and  sudden,  lasting  two  days. 

The  minimum  temperature  was  -i8f°,  as  shown 
by  the  minimum  thermometer,  November  27,  at  nine 

p.  M. 

The  highest  barometer  reading  was  30.32  inches, 
November  9,  at  two  p.m.  and  nine  p.m. 

The  lowest  barometer  reading,  also  the  lowest  to 
this  date,  was  29.16  inches,  November  19,  at  seven 
A.M.  and  two  p.m. 

In  beginning  of  month  ice  in  bay  was  about  seven- 
teen inches  thick  (November  3).  At  close  of  month 
it  was  about  twenty-six  inches  thick  (November  30). 

Dccctiibcr,  i8gi. 

December,  unlike  the  preceding  months  observed, 
showed  sudden  changes  in  the  temperature. 

The  record  for  the  month  is  complete  as  regards 
temperature,  barometric  readings,  and  tidal  observa- 
tions. 

The  mean  daily  temperature  was  -  14.09°. 

The  highest  temperature  was  i6f°.  as  shown  by  the 
maximum  thermometer,  December  31,  at  nine  p.m. 

Thermometer  was  above  zero  on  the  13th,  30th, 
and  31st. 

The  lowest  temperature  was  -31°,  as  shown  by 
mimimum  thermometer,  December  28,  at  nine  p.m. 

It  is  thus  seen  that,  unlike  the  preceding  months 
observed,  the  maximum  and  minimum  temperatures 
occurred  only  a  few,  in  fact  three,  days  apart. 


434        Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

At  the  close  of  month  there  was  a  sudden  rise  in 
temperature,  continuiny^  a  while  in  January. 

December  31  was  the  only  day  of  month  when 
thermometer  showed  a  temperature  above  zero  during 
the  entire  day,  the  mean  temperature  for  the  day 
being  1 1.08°. 

Highest  barometer  reading  was  30.06  inches, 
December  6,  at  seven  a.m. 

Lowest  barometer  reading,  and  also  lowest  noted 
during  the  year,  was  28.97  inches,  December  19,  at 
6.04  A.M. 

Ice  in  bay  was  twenty-six  inches  thick  at  opening 
of  month  (December  i),  and  three  feet  thick  at  close 
of  year. 

y amiary,  i8g2. 

As  stated  in  notes  for  December,  January  com- 
menced with  a  warm  temperature,  9^°  at  12.01  a.m., 
accompanied  by  a  brisk  south-easterly  wind. 

The  mean  daily  temperature  for  the  month  was 
-20.53°. 

The  maximum  temperature  was  32°,  as  shown  by 
maximum  thermometer  on  the  7th,  at  seven  a.m. 
and  nine  p.m. 

The  thermometer  showed  a  temperature  above  zero 
from  January  6,  at  nine  p.m.,  till  January  10,  at  four 
a.m. 

The  highest  daily  mean  temperature  was  i8.oS°,  on 
the  9th. 

The  lowest  temperature  was-53|-°,  as  shown  by 
minimum  thermometer  6882,  on  the  i8th,  at  nine  p.m., 
occurring  after  two  p.m. 

The  lowest  daily  mean  temperature  was  —41.67° 
(per  6882),  the  same  day,  January  18. 

The  highest  barometer  "jading,  30.55  inches,  was 
January  5,  at  2.02  p.m.  and  three  p.m. 


Meteorological  Notes — Verhoeff        435 

The  lowest  barometer  reading,  28.99  inches,  was 
January  26,  at  7.02  a.m. 

Ice  in  bay  was  three  feet  thick  at  beginning  of 
month,  and  about  four  feet  thick  at  close,  measuring 
in  tide  hole. 

February,  i8g2. 

The  month  of  F'ebruary  showed  even  greater 
changes  in  the  weather  and  temperature  than  January. 

The  mean  daily  temperature  was  -  15.77°. 

The  highest  temperature  was  41°,  as  shown  by  max- 
imum thermometer  on  the  15th,  at  nine  p.m. 

The  mean  temperature  of  the  15th  was  35.25°. 

The  time  of  the  rise  in  temperature  began  February 
14,  at  nine  p.m.,  temperature  then  being  31°. 

The  minimum  thermometer  showed  a  minimum 
temperature  of  31°  for  the  next  twenty-four  hours, 
ending  February  15,  at  nine  p.m. 

Temperature  was  above  zero  on  the  14th,  15th, 
1 6th,  17th,  1 8th,  and  21st. 

The  minimum  temperature  during  February  was 
-  50^°,  as  shown  by  minimum  thermometer  6882, 
February  12,  at  seven  a.m. 

The  lowest  mean  daily  temperature  was  -35.75°, 
on  the  1 1  th. 

Lowest  barometer  reading  was  29.285  inches  on  the 
4th,  at  seven  a.m. 

Highest  barometer  reading  was  30.525  inches  on 
the  13th,  at  nine  p.m. 

Ice  in  bay  was  ^.1  feet  thick  to  surface  of  water,  or 
about  4.2  feet  for  total  thickness,  at  close  of  month. 

March,  i8g2. 

The  month  of  March  was  our  coldest  month,  the 
mean  daily  temperature  being  -  22.12°.      First  half  of 


43^        Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

month  was  the  colder.  The  mean  of  the  first  fifteen 
or  seventeen  days  was  -27.91°,  while  the  mean  of 
the  last  sixteen  days  was  -  16.57°. 

Highest  temperature  was  on  the  12th,  at  six  p.m.,  3°. 

The  mean  temperature  of  this  day,  highest  of  the 
month,  was  -1.08°. 

Our  lowest  temperature  was  -5of°,  as  shown  by 
minimum  thermometer  on  the  6th,  at  seven  a.m. 

Though  our  minimum  temperature  of  the  winter  is 
claimed  by  January,  -  53f°,  March  can  claim  the 
minimum  mean  daily  temperature. 

The  mean  daily  temperature  of  the  6th  was  -45.25°, 
lower  than  that  of  January  18  by  3.58°. 

This  month  was  probably  an  average  winter  month, 
there  being  no  very  high  temperatures,  as  in  preced- 
ing two  months,  when  it  rose  to  freezing-point.  How- 
ever, there  was  a  storm  similar  to  that  of  February 
15-16,  but  without  the  high  temperature. 

The  March  storm  was  on  the  23d  and  24th.  The 
principal  features  were  a  powerful  south-east  gale, 
hazy  atmosphere,  sometimes  confining  the  sight  to  a 
hundred  yards  or  less,  snow  drifting  at  times,  and  a 
swell  to  the  tide.  Though  a  very  pronounced  storm, 
in  no  feature  did  it  seem  to  surpass  that  in  February. 
Barometer  not  remarkably  affected. 

The  average  barometric  heiofht  of  the  month  was 
29.884  inches. 

Greatest  height  was  30.21  inches  on  the  4th,  at  nine 
P.M.,  and  the  lowest  was  29.46  inches  on  the  19th,  at 
seven  a.m. 

The  thickness  of  bay  ice  showed  no  perceptible 
change  durino-  the  month. 

An  average  of  six  measurements  in  tide  hole  was 
3  ft.  8|-  in.,  measuring  to  surface  of  water. 

However,  if  we  only  use  the  highest  measurement, 
the  thickness  can  be  called  four  feet. 


Meteorolos^ical  Notes — Verhoeff        437 


RE.su  ME. 


Temperature. 

Barometer. 

Max. 

MiN.          Mean. 

Max. 

Mm. 

August,         1891 
September,     " 
October.          " 
November,     " 
December, 
January,    1892 . . 
February,    "    .. 
March,         "     .. 

5< 
40 

25° 

3oi° 

161° 

32° 

41° 

3° 

8° 

-i5r 

-i8|° 
-31° 

-531° 
-50*° 

-5or 

37.84°' 
23.28° 

8-57° 
0.16° 

—  14.09° 
-20.53°^ 
-15-77^ 

—  22. 12 

30.38 
30.32 
30.11 

30.32 
30.06 

30-55 

30.525 

30.21 

29.825 

29535 

2937 

29.16 

28.97 

28.99 

29.285 

29.46 

*  For  twenty-four  days. 


438       Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

OBJECTS  AND  RESULTS  OF  '9i-'92  EXPEDITION. 

OBJECTS.' 

Determinatioii  of  the  northern  limit  of  Greetiland  over- 
land. 

The  possible  discovery  of  the  most  practicable  route  to  the 
Pole. 

The  study  of  the  Whale-Sound  Eskimos. 

The  securing  of  geographical  and  meteorological  data. 

RESULTS.' 

The  determination  of  the  northern  extension  and  the  in- 
sularity of  Greenland,  and  the  delineation  of  the  northern 
extension  of  the  great  interior  ice-cap. 

The  discovery  of  detached  ice-free  land-masses  of  less  extent, 
to  the  northzuard. 

The  determination  of  the  rapid  convergence  of  the  Greeti- 
land shores  above  the  seventy-eighth  parallel. 

The  observation  of  the  relief  of  an  exceptionally  large  area 
of  the  Inland  Ice. 

The  delineation  of  the  unknown  shores  of  Ingle  field  Gulf, 
and  the  imperfectly  known  shores  of  Whale  and  Murchison 
Sounds. 

The  discovery  of  a  large  number  of  glaciers  of  the  first 
magnitude. 

The  first  complete  and  accurate  recorded  information  of  the 
peculiar  and  isolated  tribe  of  Arctic  Highlanders  (Dr.  Cook.) 

Complete  and  painstaking  meteorological  atid  tidal  observ- 
ations (Verlioeff). 

Sledge  journey,  which  is  unique  in  respect  to  the  distance 
covered  by  tivo  men  without  a  cache  from  beginning  to  end, 
and  in  respect  to  the  effectiveness  with  'which  those  men  were 
able  to  handle  a  large  team  of  Eskimo  dogs. 

Corroboration  of  the  opinion  advanced  that  the  Inland  Ice 
offered  an  ' '  imperial  highway. 

'  Original  project  presented  to  Philadelphia  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences 
and  American  Geographical  Society  in  1890. 
^  Buil.  Am.  Geog.  Soc,  No.  4,  1892. 


PUBLISHERS'  NOTE. 

The  following  appendices  embody  in  outline 
sketches  in  popular  form  the  results  of  the  study, 
observation,  and  experience  of  Peary's  entire  Arctic 
life,  and  not  solely  of  the  expeditions  covered  by  the 
preceding  pages  of  this  volume. 

As  a  break  between  two  expeditions  occurs  here, 
and  as,  notwithstanding  condensation,  Parts  III.-V. 
of  the  work  necessarily  fill  many  more  pages  than 
those  devoted  to  Parts  I.  and  II.,  the  publishers  have, 
for  reasons  based  on  good  book-making,  prevailed 
upon  the  author  to  allow  these  valuable  appendices 
to  appear  in  this  part  of  the  work  rather  than  at  the 
end  of  the  second  volume. 


439 


APPENDIX  I. 


AN    ARCTIC    OASIS. 

Geographical  and  Geological  Description— Striking  Features— Bays 
—Islands— Glaciers— Mountains— Icebergs. 


APPENDIX  I. 


AN    ARCTIC    OASIS HOME    OF    THE    MOST    NORTHERLY 

KNOWN    PEOPLE    ON    THE    GLOBE. 


T 


HERE  is  no  more 
interesting  Arctic 
locality  than  the 
little  oasis  along  the  west- 
ern coast  of  North  Green- 
land between  Melville  Bay 
and  Kane  Basin.  The 
interest  of  the  locality  de- 
pends upon  several  cir- 
cumstances. It  lies  at  one 
of  the  gateways  to  the 
Polar  Sea ;  its  western- 
most cape  is  one  of  the  Arctic  Pillars  of  H  ercules  which 
stand  guard  across  Smith  Sound  ;  it  is  a  real  Arctic 
oasis,  its  abundance  of  vegetable  and  animal  life 
being  in  striking  contrast  to  the  icy  wastes  of  Melville 
Bay  and  Kane  Basin  north  and  south  of  it,  and  to 
the  desolate  barren  shores  of  Ellesmere  Land  west- 
ward across  Smith  Sound.  It  is  also  one  of  the  earliest 
known  of  high  Arctic  regions,  and  for  the  past  hundred 
years  has  been  the  principal  focus  of  Arctic  effort,  no 
fewer  than  six  expeditions  having  wintered  within  its 
limits.  And  finally  It  is  the  home  of  a  little  tribe  of 
Arctic  aborigines,  at  once  the  most  northerly  individu- 
als of  the  human  race,  one  of  the  smallest  in  number, 

443 


444        Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

and  in  many  ways  the  most  interesting,  of  aboriginal 
peoples. 

Eight  years  ago  I  selected  this  region  as  the  basis 
of  my  work  of  northern  exploration,  and  since  that 
time  I  have  spent  three  winters  and  portions  of  six 
summers  in  the  midst  of  its  savage,  magnificent  sur- 
roundings, and  among  its  happy  human  children. 

This  Arctic  oasis  is  distant  three  thousand  miles 
from   New  York   City  as  a  steamer  would  go,  and 


CAPE  YORK. 

twenty-one  hundred  in  an  air-line  almost  due  north, 
and  is  situated  between  the  extreme  meridians  of  New 
York  City  and  Halifax.  Lying  as  it  does  six  hundred 
miles  within  the  Arctic  Circle,  half-way  between  the 
confines  and  the  heart  of  the  great  polar  night,  the 
Arctic  Circle  and  the  Pole,  its  every  feature  and  con- 
dition is  so  different  from  what  we  are  accustomed  to, 
that  I  have  no  doubt  many  an  intelligent  reader  will 
have  difificulty  in  forming  a  correct  conception  of  the 
country. 


Appendix 


445 


Though  only  two  hundred  and  thirty-five  miles  in 
length  from  north  to  south,  and  a  little  over  one  hun- 


THE  CRIMSON  CLIFFS. 


dred  miles  wide,  conditions  are  so  different  and  peculiar 
in  this  region  of  rapidly  assembling  meridians,  that  the 


CONICAL  ROCK. 


sun  is  as  loner  in  traversing  this  short  distance  as  he 

o  o 

is  in  passing  from  Halifax  to  New  York. 


446       Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

The  great  Arctic  night  at  the  southern  extremity  of 
the  country  is  one  hunched  and  three  days  long,  while 
at  the  northern  point  it  is  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
three. 

Comparatively  slight  as  is  the  difference  in  latitude 
between  the  northern  and  southern  limits  of  the  region, 
the  winter  night  is  twenty  days  longer  at  the  former 
than  at  the  latter.     Taking  the  mean  latitude,  it  may 


AKPANI  CLIFFS. 
Glacier  and  Ice-Cap  in  Background. 

be  said  that  for  one  hundred  and  ten  days  in  summer, 
the  sun  shines  continuously  throughout  the  twenty-four 
hours  on  the  savage  grandeur  of  the  land  ;  and  that 
for  one  hundred  and  ten  days  in  winter  no  ray  of  light 
except  those  from  the  icy  stars  and  the  dead  moon 
falls  on  the  silent  frozen  landscape  ;  while,  for  two  in- 
termediate periods  of  a  little  over  two  months  in  the 
spring  and  fall,  there  is  night  and  day  of  rapidly  vary- 
ing ratio. 


Appendix 


447 


There  is  a  savage  grandeur  in  these  rugged  lands, 
their  character  formed  by  contact  with  the  bergs  and 
floes,  such  as  never  greets  the  traveller  to  southern 
climes. 

Yet,  forbidding  as  the  coast  may  appear  to  the  rap- 
idly passing  Arctic  voyager,  those  who  know  it  well, 
know  that  behind  the  savage  outer  mask,  the  features 
of  which  have  been  carved  by  eternal  conflict  with 
storms   and    glaciers,    bergs    and   grinding    ice-fields, 


DALRYMPLE  ROCK. 


nestle  in  summer  many  grass-carpeted,  flower-sprin- 
kled, sun-kissed  nooks,  where  mild-eyed  deer  browse, 
and  twittering  snow-buntings  fill  the  air  with  liquid 
notes. 

Beyond  the  inherently  attractive  natural  features  of 
this  region,  it  has  claims  upon  a  strong  human  interest 
in  that  it  is,  and  has  been  for  ages,  the  eternally  ice- 


448        Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice  " 

imprisoned  home  of  a  little  tribe  of  happy,  care-free, 
independent,  self-supporting  aborigines,  the  most 
northerly  known  people  on  the  globe. 

Historically  the  country  has  been  known  since  1616, 
when  Bylot  and  Baffin,  after  a  surprising  voyage 
through  Melville  Bay,  ran  along  a  portion  of  the  coast, 
applied  a  few  names,  and  anchored  in  one  or  two  places. 

Years  after,  Davis  sighted  the  land  again,  and  in 
1818    Sir  John  Ross  discovered  that  it  was  inhabited. 


SAUNDERS  ISLAND. 


Since  then,  Cape  York,  the  southern  promontory  of 
the  country,  has  been  on  the  path  of  the  whalers  en 
route  to  Lancaster  Sound,  and  the  ships  of  every 
Smith-Sound  Arctic  Expedition  have  passed  along  its 
shores.  This  coast  presents  characteristics  different 
from  those  of  any  portion  of  the  west  coast  of  Green- 
land, to  the  south.  The  nearly  continuous  glacier 
faces  of  Melville  Bay,  broken  only  here  and  there  by 
nunataks,  as  well  as  the  meshwork  of  narrow  fjords 


Appendix 


449 


and  labyrinth  of  off-lyin<j^  islands,  forming  the  coast 
from  the  Devil's  Thumb  to  Cape  Farewell,  give  place 
here  to  the  bold  continuous  lines  of  the  main  rock- 
mass  of  the  Glacial  Continent,  presenting  impregnable 
ramparts  which  need  no  picket-line  of  islands  to  break 
the  assaults  of  sea  and  ice. 

The  following  geological  description  of  the  region 
is  by  Prof.  T.  C.  Chamberlin. 

"In  the  region  of  Inglefield  Gulf,  ancient  crystal- 
line rocks  of  the  gneissic  type  are  bordered  by  sand- 


OOMUNUI. 


stones  and  shales  of  unknown  age.  While  the  full 
extent  of  this  clastic  series  could  not  be  determined, 
even  within  the  region  visited,  because  it  reached  back 
under  the  ice-cap,  there  were  abundant  grounds  for 
the  belief  that  it  is  but  a  narrow  skirting  belt.  It  was 
seen  to  be  interrupted  at  frequent  points  by  the  com- 
ing of  the  crystalline  series  to  the  shore.  At  other 
points,  bays  and  valleys  were  observed  to  reach  back 
across  the  clastic  belt  to  the  crystalline  series  behind. 
The  clastic  series  embraces  three  distinguishable 
members.      The  lowest  is  a  red  sandstone  which  at- 


45°        Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

tains  a  thickness  of  perhaps  one  tliousand  to  fifteen 
hundred  feet.  Lying  conformably  upon  the  red  sand- 
stone is  a  somewhat  thicker  series  of  pinkish-grey 
sandstone.  Reposing  conformably  upon  the  pinkish 
sandstone,  lies  a  deep  series  of  more  thin-bedded  sand- 
stones and  shales  of  reddish-brown  and  dark  hues. 
The  conformity  of  the  three  sandstone  series  among 
themselves  suggests  that  there  may  be  no  vital 
distinction  between  them,  and  that  they  represent  a 


HAKLUYT  ISLAND. 


consecutive  sedimentation  reaching  a  total  thickness 
of  four  or  five  thousand  feet  perhaps.  Unfortunately 
the  series  is  extremely  barren  of  fossils.  While  it  is 
by  no  means  safe  to  assume  the  entire  absence  of 
fossils  ;  while,  indeed,  it  is  perhaps  safer  to  assume 
their  presence,  they  are  very  rare,  or  else  circum- 
scribed in  their  distribution  within  the  region  studied. 
There  remain  grounds  for  hope  that  suf^cient  fossils 
will  ultimately  be  found  to  determine  the  age  or  the 


Appendix 


451 


ages  of  the  series.  The  whole  group  has  usually  been 
referred,  with  doubt,  to  the  Tertiary  age,  because  of 
the  presence  of  rocks  of  that  age,  with  a  similar  con- 
stitution, in  the  Disco  region. 

"  Igneous  dykes  traverse  the  series  and  the  adjacent 
crystalline  terranes.  These  are  obviously  later  than 
the  rocks  traversed  by  them,  but  not  necessarily  later 
than  all  of  the  clastic  series.  Horizontal  sheets  of  ig- 
neous rock  were  seen  in  a  few  cases,  but  whether  they 


CHANNEL    BETWEEN   NORTHUMBERLAND  AND    HAKLUYT   ISLANDS. 

were  intruded  or  outpoured  on  the  surface  was  not 
determined." 

Both  to  the  north  and  to  the  south  of  Whale  Sound 
the  sandstones  are  very  much  less  in  evidence,  the 
rock  formations  being  almost  entirely  gneissose. 

The  country  is  really  a  double  peninsula  lying  be- 
tween Melville  Bay  and  Kane  Basin  on  the  south 
and  north  respectively,  and  Smith  Sound  and  the 
great  Inland  Ice  on  the  west  and  east  respectively, — 
a  peninsula  cut  nearly  in  two,  near  its  middle  latitude, 
by  the  great  inlet  Whale  Sound.  Its  extent  in  lati- 
tude is  very  nearly  4°,  and  in  longitude  8^°. 


45- 


Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice 


The  length  of  peripheral  coast-hne  from  Bushnan 
Island  to  the  southern  angle  of  Humboldt  Glacier, 
measured  from  headland  to  headland,  is  three  hundred 
and  fifteen  miles.  The  development  of  the  shores  of 
the  bays,  sounds,  and  islands  will  raise  this  distance 
to  one  thousand  miles. 

Cape  York,  the  bold  promontory  familiar  to  every 
whaler,  which  forms  the  southern  limit  of  this  coun- 
try, is  situated  in  75°  51'  N.  Lat  and  65°  30'  W.  Long. 

From  this  cape,  a  concave  shore-line  of  steep  bluffs 


HEADLANDS  OF  NORTHUMBERLAND  ISLAND. 

Striking  Contrasts  of  Sky  Contour. 

and  precipitous  brown  cliffs  one  thousand  to  fifteen 
hundred  feet  in  height,  interrupted  by  numerous 
small  glaciers,  and  surmounted  by  a  succession  of 
ice-domes  with  their  connecting  saddles,  extends 
north-westerly  a  distance  of  thirty-five  m'lles  to  the 
sharp-pointed,  ragged  islet  known  as  Conical  Rock. 

Millions  of  little  auks  breed  all  along  this  shore, 
and  the  fertilising  effect  of  their  presence,  combined 
with  the  naturally  deep  rock  colouring,  gives  to  the 
cliffs  in  summer  an  unexpected  warmth  of  rich  colour. 


454       Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

In  early  summer,  after  the  melting  of  the  snow  is  well 
under  way,  the  presence  of  considerable  quantities  of 
the  so-called  red  snow  gives  an  excuse  perhaps  for  the 
rather  vivid  name  of  "  Crimson  Cliffs,"  applied  by 
Captain  Ross.  Abreast  of  Conical  Rock,  the  shore 
for  two  or  three  miles  is  a  vertical  cliff  swarming  with 
looms  and  kittiwake  gulls,  then  it  retreats,  forming  a 
little  bight  two  or  three  miles  wide  and  four  or  five 
deep,  which  does  not  appear  on  the  charts.     A  few 


ROOKERY  OF  LITTLE  AUKS. 


miles  north  of  this  bight,  the  crystal  wall  of  the  Peto- 
wik  Glacier  presents  for  six  or  seven  miles  a  glistening 
barrier  to  the  waves.  North  of  this,  a  comparatively 
direct  line  of  cliffs  extends  to  Cape  Athol,  fifty-six 
miles  from  Cape  York.  These  cliffs  lack  a  crowning 
ice-cap  ;  the  glaciers  of  the  Cape  York  cliffs  are  re- 
placed by  narrow  grass-carpeted  ravines  leading  up  to 
a  rolling  interior  plateau,  favourite  haunt  of  deer.  The 
cliffs  themselves,  composed  of  contorted  gneiss,  show 


Appendix  455 

sharp,  angular  lines  and  faces  and  a  comparatively 
small  talus.  A  few  little  auks  breed  along  this  sec- 
tion of  coast,  and  numbers  of  small  grass-covered  plat- 
forms and  terraces  at  the  foot  of  the  cliffs  are  favourite 
summer  camping-places  of  the  natives. 

At  Cape  Athol  the  coast-line  turns  sharply  to  the 
east-north-east,  to  form  the  southern  shore  of  a  large 
bifurcated  inlet  known  as  Wolstenholm  Sound.  Be- 
tween this  shore  line,  the  Petowik  ice-stream,  and  the 
ice-cap,  is  a  large  extent  of  elevated  table-land  some 
one  thousand  feet  above  the  sea,  diversified  with  val- 


ICE-CAP  AND  GLACIERS  OF   HERBERT  ISLAND. 

leys,  streams,  and  lakes,  affording  pasturage  for  num- 
bers of  deer.  Within  the  Sound,  the  shore  blufts  lose 
some  of  their  abruptness.  Some  thirty  miles  from 
Cape  Athol,  the  Sound  is  terminated  by  three  great 
glacier  faces,  those  of  the  Moore,  Chamberlin,  and 
Salisbury  Glaciers.  From  these,  the  northern  shore, 
high  and  bold  but  not  precipitous,  and  diversified  by 
several  small  glaciers,  trends  away  to  the  mouth  of 
Granville  Bay,  the  northerly  arm  of  the  Sound. 

This    bay  presents    an    interesting    group    of    gla- 
ciers, and,  following  the  northern  shore  to  the  west- 


45^       Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

ward  some  thirty  miles,  a  black  clift  is  reached  at 
which  the  line  of  blufts  trends  again  to  the  north-west- 
ward in  a  continuation  of  the  line  interrupted  at  Cape 
Athol.  In  the  mouth  of  Wolstenholm  Sound  is  an 
interesting  group  of  islands,  described  farther  on. 
This  cVifi  is  from  a  distance  the  apparent  but  not  the 
real  northern  point  of  Wolstenholm  Sound.  At  the 
foot  of  it,  and  e.xtending  north-westward  for  a  distance 
of  twenty  miles,  is  a  peculiar  strip  of  low  foreshore. 


SCULPTURED  CLIFFS  OF  KARNAH. 

Erosion  of  (irey  Sandstone. 

from  one  to  two  or  three  miles  in  width,  lying  between 
the  base  of  the  cliffs  and  the  sea.  The  counterpart 
of  this  feature  is  not  to  be  found  anywhere  else  in  the 
country.  It  is  cut  by  three  small  irregular  inlets,  from 
the  centre  of  one  of  which  rises  the  striking  mass  of 
Bell  Rock,  and  finally  narrows  to  a  point  and  ends 
under  the  towering  black  cliffs  of  Cape  Parry,  the 
southern  portal  of  the  next  great  inlet.  Whale  Sound. 
In  the  rear  of  this  foreshore  three  large  glaciers  de- 


Appendix  457 

scend  through  breaks  in  the  bkiffs  and  reach  the  sea- 
level  in  the  inlets.  The  shore  proper  is  a  savage 
black  wall  of  ragged  rock,  low,  with  outlying  reefs  and 
rocks, — a  shore  to  be  avoided. 

Standing  guard  at  the  southern  entrance  of  Whale 
Sound,  Cape  Parry,  some  twelve  hundred  feet  in 
height,  and  one  of  the  most  striking  landmarks  of  this 
coast,  presents  a  vertical  face  to  the  west  and  north- 


CASTLE  CLIFFS. 
Erosion  of  Red  Sandstone. 


west.  To  the  observer  on  a  ship  coming  north  from 
Wolstenholm  Island,  Hakluyt,  Northumberland,  and 
the  western  point  of  Herbert  Island  have  been  visible 
for  some  time  before  reaching  the  cape. 

During  the  long  summer  day,  the  water  below  the 
dark  cliff  is  alive  with  the  whirring  wings  and  gleam- 
ing white  breasts  of  countless  little  auks.  Rounding 
the  cape,  there  opens  up  the  wide  expanse  of  one  of 
the  largest,  most  diversified,  and   most  attractive   of 


458       Northward  over  the  "  Great  Ice  " 

Arctic  inlets.  Fifty-five  miles  wide  at  its  mouth,  which 
is  divided  into  two  broad  channels  by  a  trio  of  command- 
ing islands,  and  eighty  miles  deep,  it  presents  every 
phase  of  Arctic  scenery,  climate,  and  life, — is,  in  fact,  a 
little  Arctic  world  in  itself.  Along  its  shores  are  to  be 
found  low  grassy  slopes  ;  towering  cliffs,  massive  and 
solid,  carved,  by  the  Titan  agencies  of  the  savage 
North,  into  wild  forms ;  wind-swept  points  where 
nothing  can  exist  ;  sheltered  nooks  where  never  a  vio- 
lent breath  of  air  penetrates  ;  valleys  where  luxuriant 


L 


SOUTH   GLACIER. 


grass  is  brightened  by  myriads  of  yellow,  purple,  blue, 
and  white  flowers  ;  slopes  and  plateaus  as  barren  as 
the  surface  of  a  cinder  pile ;  huge  glaciers  which 
launch  a  prolific  progeny  of  bergs  into  the  sea  ;  tiny 
glaciers  which  cling  tenaciously  in  the  angles  of  the 
cliffs  ;  miles  and  miles  of  glistening  blue,  berg-dotted 
water ;  and  everywhere  a  few  miles  back  from  the 
shore,  the  shore  of  that  other  silent,  eternal,  frozen 
desert  sea,  the  "  Great  Ice." 

This  Sound  was  one  of  the  earliest  discovered  and 
named  localities  of  the  Arctic  reeions  of  the  eastern 


Appendix  459 

hemisphere.  Baffin  in  1616  anchored  behind  "  Hak- 
hiits  Isle."  Yet  its  entire  extent  and  features  are 
known  but  now,  as  the  result  of  my  expeditions. 

The  variance  of  existing  charts  from  the  real  con- 
figuration of  this  reg'ion  is  such  that  I  found  it  difficult 
to  locate  satisfactorily  many  of  the  names  appearing 
upon  the  charts.  I  have,  however,  retained  all  these 
names,  and  I  think  that  in  future  there  will  be  no  dif- 
ficulty in  distinguishing  them. 

Six  inlets  of  diverse  size  and  characteristics  open 
into  the  Sound,  and  ten  islands,  two  of  which,  North- 


MT.  BARTLETT. 


umberland  and  Herbert,  are  of  considerable  size,  are 
scattered  about  it. 

After  rounding  Cape  Parry,  a  ship  entering  Whale 
Sound  steams  at  first  directly  for  the  opening  between 
Herbert  and  Northumberland  Islands,  a  fine  view  of 
both  being  obtained.  On  the  right  is  a  high,  bold 
shore,  which  on  account  of  its  northern  exposure  is 
not  as  attractive  in  appearance  as  that  south  of  the 
cape.  Vegetation  is  scanty,  and  glaciated  drifts  of 
snow  remain  the  year  round  under  the  crest  of  the 
cliffs,  which  protect  them  from  the  noon  sun. 


460       Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

A  few  miles  from  the  cape  is  the  Httle  bight  known 
as  Barden  Bay,  in  which  is  located  one  of  the  best 
known  of  the  native  settlements,  Netiulumi.  The 
glaciers  reappear  here,  three  of  them  debouching  into 
the  bay.  Leaving  this  bay  and  still  heading  easterly, 
the  shore,  for  several  miles,  is  a  continuous  vertical  cliff, 
lacking  beach,  foreshore,  or  talus.  About  eight  or 
ten  miles  east  of  Netiulumi,  the  coast  takes  a  still  more 


SENTINEL  NUNATAK. 

Glacier  Carving  on  Rocks  in  Foreground. 

easterly  bend,  the  mouth  of  Olriks  Bay  and  the  sharp, 
black  peak  of  Kirsirviahsuk  open  up,  while  the  silver 
faces  of  three  glaciers  can  be  seen  protruding  into  the 
sea.  Up  to  the  point,  the  cliffs  are  wild  in  outline, 
beautiful  and  warm  in  the  colouring  of  the  dark  browns 
and  reds  and  greys  of  the  various  strata,  and  the 
greenish-brown  of  the  intersecting  trap-dykes.  East 
of  the  point,  gnarled  and  veined  gneiss  takes  the  place 
of  the  stratified  rocks,  the  cliffs  lose  their  warmth  of 


Appendix 


461 


colour,  changing  to  cold,  sombre  grey,  and  every  angle, 
cleft,  and  opening  is  occupied  by  a  glacier.  Twelve 
glaciers  flow  down  the  cliffs  in  the  twenty-two  miles 
between  Netiulumi  and  Ittibloo,  at  the  entrance  of 
Olriks  Bay. 

This  bay — so  called,  though  it  is  really  a  fjord, — 
is  a  picturesque  inlet,  and  the  only  one  of  its  kind 
in  the  country.     Its  width  at  the  mouth,  measured 


VALLEY  SCENE,  HEAD  OF  BOWDOIN  BAY. 

Sugar-Loaf  Mount,  One  of  the  Peaks  of  the  Mountain  Dam  which  Holds  the 
Inland  Ice  in  Check,  in  the  Background. 

somewhat  diagonally  across  to  the  opposite  bluff  of 
Kanga,  is  seven  miles,  and  from  here  it  extends  east- 
ward seventeen  miles,  gradually  narrowing  to  a  width 
of  less  than  two  miles ;  and  a  massive  flat-topped 
mountain  lies  directly  across  it.  As  seen  from 
Ittibloo,  and  in  fact  from  any  point  until  well  within 
the  bay,  this  mountain  is  apparently  its  head.  Just 
to  the  left  of  it,  however,  a  contracted  passage  permits 


462       Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

farther  progress,  and,  once  through  these  narrows,  a 
long,  narrow,  river-hke  stretch  of  water  opens  up, 
completely  land-locked,  with  low,  rolling,  grassy 
shores,  on  either  side  rising  gradually  to  the  borders 
of  the  ice-cap  a  few  miles  distant.  Here  is  the  home 
and  favourite  haunt  of  the  reindeer,  where,  sheltered 
from  the  cold,  damp,  seaward  fogs,  and  the  biting,  ice- 


ARCTIC  FLOWERS. 


cap  winds,  an  abundant  pasturage  springs  up  for  them. 
Again  the  bay  seems  to  end  at  a  black  cliff,  lying 
directly  across  it,  twenty-one  miles  from  the  narrows, 
but  on  a  near  approach  an  opening  is  seen  to  the 
right,  and  passing  through  these  upper  narrows,  but  a 
trifle  over  a  mile  in  width,  the  third  and  last  section 
of  the  fjord  is  entered.  This  section  is  almost  com- 
pletely walled  by  steep  bluffs  and  vertical  cilffs,  and 


Appendix 


463 


terminates  finally  at  the  face  of  a  glacier  flowing  from 
the  main  interior  ice-cap.  A  short  southerly  branch 
is  also  terminated  by  a  considerable  glacier.  The  total 
length  of  this  bay  is  fifty  miles,  and  its  average  width 
not  over  three  miles. 

Returning  to  the  bluff  Kanga,  at  the  mouth  of  the 
bay,  the  main  shore  of  the  Sound  trends  north-easterly, 


ARCTIC  FLOWERS. 


in  a  succession  of  deeply  eroded  cliffs  and  steep  bluffs, 
uninterrupted  by  glaciers,  thirteen  miles,  when  it  turns 
due  east  again,  and  in  a  series  of  rounded  hills,  on 
whose  summits  rests  an  ice-cap,  reaches  eastward  to 
the   mouth   of  Academy   Bay,    thirty-five   miles   from 


Kanga. 


Academy  Bay   is  much   smaller  than  Olriks,  being 
but  about   thirteen   miles   long  and  two  miles  wide 


464       Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

Cutting  into  the  land  at  first  in  a  soutli-easterly  direc- 
tion, it  swings  due  east  and  terminates  at  the  face  of 
a  large  glacier,  which  is  practically  the  northern  arm 
of  the  one  entering  the  head  of  Olriks  Bay.  Though 
the  shores  of  this  bay  are  bold  throughout,  there  are 
portions  of  the  north-eastern  side  where  steep  valleys 
give  access  to  the  elevated  and  extensive  rolling 
plateau  lying  east  of  the  bay,  between  it  and  the  ice- 


KAHKOKTAH  GLACIER. 
Typical  Form.     Red  Cliff  Peninsula  Ice-C.ip  in  Background. 

cap.  The  south-west  side,  on  the  contrary,  from  the 
bold  bluff  at  the  entrance,  to  far  up  beyond  the  extrem- 
ity of  the  glacier,  is  a  continuous,  inaccessible,  vertical 
cliff. 

From  the  eastern  point  of  Academy  Bay  the  main 
shore  of  the  gulf  extends,  due  east,  to  the  face  of 
the  great  Heilprin  Glacier,  and  then  on  beside  the 
great  ice-stream,  until  the  crests  of  the  cliffs  disappear 
under  the  white  shroud  of   the  "  Great  Ice."      From 


Appendix 


465 


here  on,  the  eastern  and  northern  sides  of  the  head  of 
the  gulf  are  an  ahnost  continuous  glacier  face,  six  great 
ice-streams,  separated  by  as  many  precipitous  nunataks, 
flowing  down  from  the  interior  ice-cap  to  discharge  an 
enormous  fleet  of  bergs.  As  a  result  of  this  free  dis- 
charge, the  great  white  viscosity  of  the  interior  has 
settled  down  into  a  huge,  and  in  clear  weather  easily 
discernible,  semi-circular  basin,  similar  to  those  of 
Tossukatek,  Great  Kariak,  and  Jacobshavn.      In  this 


GLACIER  MARGIN. 

head  of  the  gulf,  situated  some  in  the  face  of  the 
glaciers,  and  others  a  short  distance  beyond  them,  are 
seven  or  eight  islands,  most  of  which  bear  proofs  of 
former  glaciation.  Along  the  north-western  shore  of 
the  gulf,  the  vertical  cliffs  resume  their  sway,  back  of 
which  rise  the  trio  of  striking  peaks,  Mounts  Daly, 
Adams,  and  Putnam.  The  chffs  continue  westward 
for  some  little  distance,  then  gradually  merge  into  a 
gentle  slope,  which  is  in  turn  succeeded  by  the  face 


466       Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

of  the  Hubbard  Glacier.  West  of  the  glacier,  cliffs 
of  a  different  character  (red  and  grey  sandstone) 
occur,  and  extend  to  the  grand  and  picturesque  red- 
brown  Castle  Cliffs  at  the  entrance  to  Bowdoin  Bay. 
At  these  clifTs  the  shore  takes  an  abrupt  turn  to  the 
northward,  into  the  now  familiar  but  previously  un- 
known Bowdoin  Bay,  in  which  was  located  the  head- 
quarters of  my  last  Expedition. 

This  bay   has  an   extreme   length   of  eleven  miles, 
and  an  average   width   of    between  three    and    four 


TYPICAL  STRATIFICATION  AND  DIP. 

miles.  What  with  its  southern  exposure,  the  protec- 
tion from  the  wind  afforded  by  the  cliffs  and  bluffs 
which  enclose  it,  and  the  warmth  of  colouring  of  its 
shores,  it  presents  one  of  the  most  desirable  locations 
for  a  house.  The  scenery  is  also  varied  and  attract- 
ive, offering  to  the  eye  greater  contrasts,  with  less 
change  of  position,  than  any  other  locality  occurring 
to  me.  Around  the  circuit  of  the  bay  are  seven 
glaciers  with  exposures  to  all  points  of  the  compass, 
and  varying  in  size  from  a  few  hundred  feet  to  over 
two  miles  in  width. 


468       Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

The  ice-cap  itself  is  also  in  evidence  here,  its  verti- 
cal face  in  one  place  capping  and  forming  a  continua- 
tion of  a  vertical  cliff  which  rises  direct  from  the  bay. 
From  the  western  point  of  the  bay,  a  line  of  grey 
sandstone  cliffs — the  Sculptured  Cliffs  of  Karnah — 
interrupted  by  a  single  glacier  in  a  distance  of  eight 
miles,  and  carved  by  the  resistless  arctic  elements 
into  turrets,  bastions,  huge  amphitheatres,  and  colossal 
statues  of  men  and  animals,  extends  to  Cape  Ackland, 


JUNE  IN  BOWDOIN  BAY. 

the  Karnah  of  the  natives.  Here  the  cliffs  end 
abruptly,  and  the  shore  trending  north-westward  to 
Cape  Cleveland,  eighteen  miles  distant,  consists  of  an 
almost  continuous  succession  of  fan-shaped,  rocky 
deltas  formed  by  glacier  streams.  Back  of  the  shore- 
line is  a  gradually  sloping  foreshore,  rising  to  the  foot 
of  an  irregular  series  of  hills,  which  rise  more  steeply 
to  the  ice-cap  lying  upon  their  summits.  In  almost 
every  depression  between  these  hills,  the  face  of  a 
glacier  may  be  seen,  and  it  is  the  streams  from  these 


Appendix 


469 


that  have  made  the  shore  what  it  is,  and  formed  the 
wide  shoals  off  it,  on  which  every  year  a  numerous 
fleet  of  icebergs  becomes  stranded. 

At  the  yellow  bastion  of  Cape  Cleveland,  the  shore 
retreats  sharply  to  the  eastward  into  McCormick  Bay, 
which  penetrates  to  a  depth  of  some  fifteen  miles,  and 
the  former  extension  of  it,  now  a  wide  grassy  valley 
walled  by  bluffs  and  glacier  faces,  reaches  eastward 


COAST  WEST  OF   HUBBARD  GLACIER. 

some  ten  miles  more,  nearly  to  the  head  of  Bowdoin 
Bay.  This  bay  presents  more  of  the  characteristics  of 
a  bay  proper  and  less  of  those  of  a  fjord  than  any  of 
the  other  ramifications  of  Whale  Sound.  Fifteen 
miles  deep  by  nine  miles  wide  at  its  mouth,  and  four  at 
its  bottom,  its  shores,  nowhere  precipitous,  present  an 
almost  continuous  line  of  beach.  The  northern  shore, 
a  moderate  slope,    intersected  by   numerous   ravines 


4/0       Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

and  crested  by  an  isolated  ice-cap,  is  as  attractive  and 
fertile  as  the  slag  heap  o\  ;in  iron  foundry. 

Only  the  dark  bluff  of  Cape  Robertson  separates 
McCormick  Bay  from  Robertson's  Bay.  This  latter 
bay  is  somewhat  smaller  than  McCormick,  and  is  the 
last  of  the  Whale-Sound  inlets.  The  scenery  of  the 
bay  is  very  bold,  and  the  cliffs  near  the  head  are  so 
strikingly  grand  and  pi'ecipitous,  that  the  native 
name  "imnaksoah  signifies  "the  precipitous  place." 
From  Robertson,  the  north-westerly  trending  coast  is 


CHARACTERISTIC  GLACIER  SNOUT. 
East  Glacier. 

formed  of  alternating  cliffs  and  broad  glacier  faces,  to 
Cape  Chalon,  the  favourite  walrus  hunting-ground  of 
the  natives ;  thence  it  trends  more  to  the  northward, 
and,  in  a  great  concave  curve,  broken  by  two  or  three 
glaciers,  sweeps  away  to  the  couchant  mass  of  wild 
Uglooksoah  (Cape  Alexander),  the  western  sentinel  of 
the  country,  which,  from  its  position  just  midway  be- 
tween the  confines  and  the  heart  of  the  Arctic  Night,' 
frowns  or  smiles,  as  its  mood  may  be,  upon  the  perennial 
waves  of  the  North  Water. 

'  Cape  Alexander  is  just-half  way  between  the  Arctic  Circle  and  the  Pole. 


Appendix 


471 


North  of  Cape  Alexander  is  a  coast,  the  features  of 
which  liave  been  made  famihar  to  all  by  the  pens 
of  Kane  and  Hayes,  trending  nearly  north  to  Cape 
Ohlsen.  Here  the  coast  swings  abruptly  eastward, 
and,  in  a  succession  of  brown  cliffs,  finally  disappears 
under  the  omnipresent  ice-cap  at  the  southern  angle 
of  the  Humboldt  Glacier. 

In  this  stretch  of  coast  are  the  well  known  Crystal- 


CLIFFS  OF  KANGERDLOOKSOAH. 

Palace  Cliffs  and  Glacier,  Port  Foulke,  Foulke  Fjord, 
Sunrise  Point,  Littleton  Island,  Cape  Ohlsen,  Life- 
Boat  Cove,  and  Cairn  Point ;  and  in  this  short  reach, 
three  expeditions— Kane's,  Hall's,  Hayes's,— have 
wintered. 

The  islands  of  this  coast,  from  Cape  York  northward, 
present  two  striking  peculiarities.  They  are  almost 
invariably  in  groups  of  three,  consisting  of  two  large 


472        Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

ones  of  entirely  dissimilar  characteristics,  and  a  third 
much  smaller.  For  example,  Bushnan,  Meteorite,  and 
Round  Islands — Saunders,  Wolstenholm,  and  Dal- 
rymple — Herbert,  Northumberland,  and  Hakluyt — 
Harvard,  Lion,  and  Little  Matterhorn — and  lesser 
examples,  the  Manson  Islands,  and  the  Sister  Bees. 

The  similarity  between  the  two  largest  of  these 
groups,  the  Herbert-Northumberland-Hakluyt  and 
the  Saunders-Wolstenholm-Dalrymple,  is  particularly 
striking.  Each  group  lies  in  the  mouth  of  a  great 
inlet.  In  each  group  is  a  large  vertical-sided,  flat- 
topped  island  of  stratified  rock — Herbert  and  .Saun- 
ders ; — in  each  the  next  is  a  smaller  one  of  different 


NUNATAKS. 


formation  and  bolder  orography — Northumberland 
and  Wolstenholm  ; — and  the  outer,  a  still  smaller  pre- 
cipitous rock,  the  home  of  numerous  sea-birds, — Hak- 
luyt, Dalrymple. 

The  contrast  between  individual  islands,  though 
marked  in  each  group,  is  especially  noticeable  in  the 
case  of  Herbert  and  Northumberland.  Though  sepa- 
rated by  a  channel  scarcely  more  than  one  mile  wide, 
Herbert  is  a  vertical-sided,  fiat-topped  mass  of  varie- 
gated sandstone  without  a  sea-level  glacier,  and  with 
but  a  small  ice-cap  ;  while  Northumberland  is  a  mass 


Appendix  473 

of  high  summits  of  gneissose  and  basaltic  rocks  ahnost 
completely  covered"  with  ice-cap,  from  which  exude 
numerous  sea-level  glaciers.  This  island  presents,  in 
the  close  juxtaposition  of  flowing  white  ice-domes  and 
ragged  black  cliffs,  the  most  striking  contrasts  of  colour 
and  sky  contour. 

Another  feature  is  the  frequent  recurrence  of  sharp 
conical  rocks  rising  directly  from  the  sea.  The  least 
pronounced  of  these  is  Round  Island,  some  thirty 
miles  east  of  Cape  York.  Then  come  the  well-known 
Conical,  Dalrymple,  and  Bell  Rocks  ;  then  the  less- 
known    and  smaller  but  equally   pronounced    Little 


LITTLETON  ISLAND  FROM  SITE  OF  POLARIS  HOUSE. 

Matterhorn  at  the  head  of  Inglefield  Gulf,  and  Suther- 
land Island  just  south  of  Cape  Alexander.' 

In  the  proximity  of  the  ice-cap  to  the  shore,  and 
the  existence  of  numerous  detached  ice-caps  or  domes 
separated  completely  from  the  Inland-Ice  sheet,  this 
region  is  marked. 

An  impressive  feature,  too,  is  the  glaciers  ;  hundreds 
of  these,  of  all  sizes,  shapes,  and  characteristics,  flow 

'  Still  further  ex.imples  of  these  peculiar  islands  are  Cocked-Hat  Island  west 
of  Cape  Sabine,  Cone  Island  in  Jones  Sound,  and  Sugar  Loaf  in  the  bay  south 
of  Wilcox  Head. 


474       Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

down  the  numerous  fjords,  valleys,  and  ravines  of  this 
coast  from  the  "  Great  Ice  "  towards  the  sea.  Many  of 
them  never  reach  the  sea,  but  waste  away  in  the 
warmth  of  the  valleys.  Others  do  attain  the  sea, 
stretching  unctuous  blue  ice-cliffs,  fifty  to  one  hundred 
and  fifty  feet  high  and  one  half  to  ten  miles  long,  along 
the  shore  and  across  the  heads  of  bays,  from  which 
every  year  is  launched  a  prolific  fleet  of  bergs. 

The  motion  of  even  the  largest  of  these  glaciers  is 
comparatively  slow,  and  of  the  smaller  non-sea-level 
ones  almost  imperceptible.  They  are  extraordinarily 
well  exposed  and  open,  and  there  is  no  place  in  the 


NORTH  SHORE,  LITTLETON  AND  McGARY  ISLANDS. 

world  where  a  wider  variety  of  examples  is  to  be  seen 
in  so  narrow  an  area,  or  where  the  physics  and  dynam- 
ics of  glacier  structure  and  movement  can  be  studied 
more  easily  or  to  better  advantage.  I  doubt  if  any 
other  known  region  of  equal  extent  shows  glacial 
phenomena  of  such  magnitude  and  variety  as  the 
shores  of  Whale  Sound  and  Inglefield  Gulf. 

The  Petowik  Glacier  is  the  longest,  and  the  group 
at  the  head  of  Inglefield  Gulf, — Heilprin,  Tracy,  Mel- 
ville.   Farquhar, — the   most   prolific,    owing    to   their 


Appendix 


475 


length  of  face,  proximity  to  the  great  interior  ice,  and 
the  size  of  their  7idvd  basins.  Many  others,  however, 
as  the  Jesup,  Diebitsch,  Childs,  Leidy,  Bowdoin,  Sun, 
Verhoeff,  ChamberHn,  Moore,  Salisbury,  Ittibloo,  ]\lis- 
umisu,  and  Savage,  contribute  their  full  quota  of  bergs. 
All  these  mentioned  glaciers  have  high  vertical  faces, 
and,  with  the  exception  of  the  Petowik,  are  rent  by 
crevasses  and  seracs. 

In  Cape  York  Bay,  however,  there  is  a  group  of 
glaciers,  the  surfaces  of  which  are  unbroken  by  cre- 
vasses or  seracs,  and  the  extremities  of  which  descend 
so  gradually  to  the  water-level,  that  it  is  possible  to 


CAIRN   POINT. 


step  upon  them  from  a  boat,  traverse  their  surface  at 
will,  and  ascend  their  gentle  slopes,  unimpeded  by 
any  obstruction,  to  the  ice-cap  in  which  they  originate. 

As  indicated  near  the  beginning  of  this  chapter,  and 
as  specifically  noted  by  Prof.  ChamberHn  in  his  geo- 
logical diagnosis  of  this  region,  this  coast  is  not,  pre- 
cisely speaking,  mountainous. 

The  coast  ribbon  protruding  for  a  greater  or  less 
width  from  beneath  the  surchargement  of  the  ice-cap, 
is  really  a  table-land  of  approximately  2000-2500  feet 


476       Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

in  height,  dropping  finally  in  steep  bluffs  or  vertical 
cliffs  to  the  sea.  There  are,  however,  some  prominent 
peaks  whose  superior  elevation  is  not  fully  apparent 
unless  one  has  seen  them  from  the  ice-cap,  looming 
above  their  surroundings.  One  of  the  most  command- 
ing summits  of  the  entire  region,  a  snow-capped  mass 
of  great  individuality,  situated  upon  the  north-west 
shore  of  Inglefield  Gulf,  1  have  named,  in  honour  of  the 
distinguished  President  of  the  American  Geographical 
Society,  Mount  Daly.  Another  bold  summit  in  Rob- 
ertson Bay  I  have  named  Mount  Wistar. 

Thousjh  a  re^rion  of  great  contrasts,  there  are  con- 
stantly  recurring  types,  as,  for  example,  the  bastions 
of  Kanga,  Cape  Cleveland,  and  Bastion  Point ;  the 
statues  of  the  Castle,  and  Sculptured  Cliffs,  and  Mount 
Wistar  ;  the  gneissose  faces  of  Parker  Snow  Point, 
Hakluyt,  and  Northumberland  Islands,  and  Cape 
Parry  ;  the  ragged  crests,  ice-domes,  and  sectional  ice- 
caps of  Josephine  Headland,  Mount  Wistar,  and  Im- 
nahlooksoah. 

There  is  also  a  wealth  of  natural  curiosities,  as  the 
Bronze  Sphinx,  the  Devil's  Bastion,  Mountain  of  the 
Holy  Cross,  Glacier  of  the  Scarlet  Heart,  Cave  of 
Petowik,  Great  Arch  at  Cape  York,  Bell  Rock,  Half 
Dome,  and  the  Ignimut,  or  Firestone.  Then  there 
are  countless  plunging  cascades,  brawling  streams, 
glacier  grottos,  and  the  ever-present  yet  ever-changing 
fleet  of  stately  bergs  which  ride  in  every  inlet  and 
cruise  along  each  mile  of  coast. 

Such  is  this  region  in  summer.  In  winter  it  would 
hardly  be  recognised.  The  land  is  shrouded  in  snow, 
and  shows  a  ghastly  grey  in  the  dim  starlight ;  the 
sea  is  white  and  rigid  ;  no  sound  is  in  the  bitter  air, 
which  is  pungent  with  frost  spiculae  ;  light  and  life 
have  fled  ;  land,  and  sea,  and  sky,  and  air,  are  dark  and 
dead  and  frozen. 


APPENDIX    II. 

THE    SMITH-SOUND    ESKIMOS 

The  Most  Northerly  Human  Beings  on  the  Globe — A  Little,  Isolated 
Community — Origin  —  Physical  Appearances —  Types—  Ethnological 
Records — Disposition — Life  —  Government  —  Astronomy —  Morals- 
Physique— Habitations — Food — Occupations — Spur  is — Old  Friends. 


1 

ttinHU^^iii^^np^ 

J 

J 

HPVPIIIIi 

1 

^K^W' 

Jl 

H^Kv 

^K 

mK^^^' 

Hnf 

^^#' 

'■'1' 

A     SMITH-SOUND     ESKIMO. 


APPENDIX    II. 


THE    SMITH-SOUND    ESKIMOS. 


o 


V  all  interesting 
aboriginal  tribes 
of  men,  there  is 
none  more  strikingly  so 
than  the  little  community 
of  Eskimos  whose  habi- 
tat is  the  west  coast  of 
Greenland,  between  Mel- 
ville Bay  and  Kane  Basin. 
The  smallness  of  this 
tribe,  its  complete  isola- 
tion and  self-dependence, 
its  extreme  northerly  location,  the  stress  of  hostile 
conditions  under  which  it  maintains  its  existence,  the 
human  interest  connected  with  it  as  the  result  of  the 
writings  of  Kane,  Hayes,  and  other  Arctic  explorers, 
and  the  uncertainty  as  to  its  origin  and  early  history, 
combine  to  place  it  at  the  head  of  the  list. 

Scattered  along  the  shores  of  the  Arctic  oasis  al- 

'  No  fulness  of  detail,  no  specialism  has  been  attempted  in  this  chapter. 
Such  treatment  is  impracticable  here  from  lack  of  space.  I  have  merely  en- 
deavoured to  sketch  an  outline  picture  which  shall  show  this  most  interesting 
people  in  their  true  light,  and  do  justice  lo  the  fearless,  hardy,  cheerful  little 
tribe  of  human  children  for  whom  I  have  the  warmest  regard. 

This  sketch  is  the  briefest  conden'>ation  from  my  material,  but  it  contains 
suggestions  for  thought  for  the  most  cursory  as  well  as  the  most  studious  reader, 
and  it  cannot  fail  to  show  the  writer  and  the  artist,  that  there  is  an  untouched 
mine  of  material  awaiting  their  working,  in  these  children  of  the  North  and  their 
Arctic  oasis. 

479 


480       Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

ready  described,  this  little  tribe,  or  perhaps,  more 
properly  speaking,  family  of  Eskimos — for  they  num- 
ber but  two  hundred  and  fifty-three'  in  all,  men, 
women,  and  children — is  found  maintaining  its  ex- 
istence in  complete  isolation  and  independence,  under 
the  utmost  stress  of  savage  environment.  Without 
government ;  without  religion  ;  without  money  or  any 


A  TUPIK. 


standard  of  value  ;  without  written  language  ;  with- 
out property,  except  clothing  and  weapons  ;  their 
food  nothing  but  meat,  blood,  and  blubber  ;  without 
salt,  or  any  substance  of  vegetable  origin  ;  their 
clothing  the  skins  of  birds  and  animals ;  almost 
their  only  two  objects  in  life,  something  to  eat  and 

'  Accurate  census   September    i,  1S95.     Between  this    date  and  August  g, 

1896,  an  epidemic  of   influenza    reduced   their   number  to  229.     In    August, 

1897.  they  numbered  234. 


Appendix  II 


481 


something  witli  which  to  clothe  themselves,  and  their 
sole  occupation  the  struggle  for  these  objects  ;  with 
habits  and  conditions  of  life  hardly  above  the  ani- 
mal, these  people  seem  at  first  to  be  very  near  the 
bottom  of  the  scale  of  civilisation  ;  yet  closer  acquaint- 


AHSAYOO. 

Showing  Long  Hair  of  the  Men. 

ance  shows  them  to    be  quick,   intelligent,  ingenious, 
and  thoroughly  human. 

With  our  surroundings  and  bringing  up,  drawing 
as  we  do  upon  the  entire  world  for  our  daily  wants, 
we  can  have  no  conception  of  the  earlier  condition  of 
this  people  and  their  almost  inconceivable  destitution 


Appendix  II 


48; 


and  restriction  as  to  materials,  dependent  for  every- 
thing w^^on  a  few  miles  of  Arctic  coast-line.  To  them 
such  an  ordinary  thing  as  a  piece  of  wood  was  just  as 
unattainable  as  is  the  moon  to  the  petulant  child  that 
cries  for  it.  Is  it  to  be  wondered  at  that  under  these 
circumstances  a  man  offered  me  his  dogs  and  sledge 
and  all  his  furs  for  a  bit  of  board  as  long  as  himself; 
that  another  offered  me  his  wife  and  two  children  for 
a  shining  knife  ;  and  that  a  woman  offered  me  every- 
thing she  had  for  a  needle  ? 

They  are  a  community  of  children  in  their  simplicity, 
honesty,  and  happy 
lack  of  all  care  ;  of 
animals  in  their  sur- 
roundings, their 
food  and  habits  ;  of 
iron  men  in  their 
utter  disregard  of 
cold,  hunger,  and 
fatigue  ;  of  beings 
of  hiorh  intellicrence 
in  the  construction 
and  us^  of  the  im- 
plements of  the 
chase,  and  the  in- 
genious concentration  of  every  one  of  the  few  possi- 
bilities of  the  barren  country  which  is  their  home,  upon 
the  two  great  problems  of  their  existence — something 
to  eat,  and  something  to  wear.  The  accumulated 
experience  of  generation  after  generation  has  taught 
them  how  to  make  the  most  of  every  one  of  the  few 
possibilities  of  their  barren  country,  in  the  way  of 
affording  sustenance,  clothing,  comfort,  and  safety ; 
and,  as  a  result,  they  are  as  independent  of  the  varying 
moods  of  their  frozen  habitat  as  are  other  peoples  of 
the  climatic  vagaries  of  more  genial  latitudes. 


WIFE  OF  SOKER. 


484       Northward  over  the  "  Great  Ice  " 

Denizens  of  a  little  Arctic  oasis,  prisoned  on  the 
east  by  the  tovvering^  wall  and  superstitious  terrors  of 
the  Sermiksoah,  or  "  Great  Ice  "  ;  on  the  west  by  the 
waves  of  Smith  Sound  ;  on  the  north  by  the  crystal 
ramparts  of  the  Humboldt  Glacier  ;  and  on  the  south 
by  the  stretching  miles  of  the  unknown  glaciers  of 
Melville  Bay,  they  are  at  once  the  smallest,  the  most 
northerly,  and  most  unique  tribe  upon  the  earth,  and 


EATING  RAW  WALRUS  MEAT. 


perhaps  the  oldest  upon  the  Western  Hemisphere. 
Many  of  them  are  of  strikingly  Mongolian  type  of 
countenance  ;  all  of  them  possess  the  Oriental  char- 
acteristics of  mimicry,  ingenuity,  and  patience  in 
mechanical  duplication  ;  and  their  appearance  indi- 
cates the  strong  probability  of  the  correctness  of  the 
theory  advanced  by  Sir  Clements  Markham,  the  dis- 
tinguished President  of  the  Royal  Geographical  So- 


Appendix  II 


485 


ciety  of  London.  This  theory  is,  in  brief,  that  these 
people  are  the  remnants  of  an  ancient  Siberian  tribe, 
the  Onkilon,  the  last  remains  of  which,  driven  from 
their  homes  and  out  on  to  the  Arctic  Ocean  by  the 
fierce  waves  of  Tartar  invasion  in  the  Middle  Ages, 
passed  to  the  New  Siberian  Islands,  and  thence  grad- 
ually over  or  along  lands  as  yet  undiscovered,  per- 
haps   even  across  the    Pole   itself,  to  the    Northern 


TUNQWINGWAH  AND   HER   BABY. 

Greenland  Archipelago  and  Grinnell  Land,  and 
thence  southward  in  different  streams,  as  shown  to- 
day by  the  Eskimo  on  the  east  coast  of  Greenland  ; 
the  Eskimo  of  the  present  Danish  colonies  and 
the  Arctic  Highlander  ;  and  the  Eskimo  of  north- 
ern North  America  and  the  American  Arctic 
Archipelago. 

Among    other   facts    upon    which    this    theory    is 


CO 

a 

a 

m 

J 
< 

o 

a 
o 
_) 
o 
z 

X 


Appendix  II 


487 


grounded,  are  the  strong  resemblance  of  the  stone 
dwelHngsof  the  Arctic  Highlanders  to  ruins  of  simi- 
lar dwellings  discovered  in  Siberia.  There  are  also 
apparent  strong  physical  resemblances.  It  would 
seem  as  if  this  theory  were  likely  to  be  borne  out  by 
the  additional  facts  ob- 


t/ 


tained  by  me.  The  fa- 
cial characteristics  of 
many  individuals  in  the 
tribe  are  noticeably  Asi- 
atic. The  obliquely  set 
eyes  are  a  common  oc- 
currence. The  natural 
aptness  for  imitation 
shown  by  many  is  also 
strikingly  suggestive  of 
a  Chinese  and  Japanese 
trait. 

An  interesting  inci- 
dent bearing  upon  this 
came  up  in  connection 
with  the  bringing  of  a 
young  girl  of  this  tribe 
to  the  United  States 
by  Mrs.  Peary  in  1894. 
The  first  and  only  thing 
that  elicited  expressions 
of  vivid  surprise  and  as- 
tonishment from  this 
girl  was  the  sight  of  a 
Chinaman  upon  the 
street,  to  whom  she  im- 
mediately ran  and  at- 
tempted to  enter  into  conversation.  Later,  while  pass- 
ing along  the  streets  of  Washington,  she  was  seen  by 
several  members  of  the  Chinese  Legation,  who  im- 


'  MISS  BILL." 


Eskimo  Girl  Brought  Home  by  Mrs. 
Peary  in  1894. 


488        Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

mediately  surrounded  her  and  began  talking  to  her 
in  the  Chinese  language,  evidently  mistaking  her  for 
one  of  their  own  countrywomen. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  has  been  impossible  to  obtain 
any  satisfactory  information  from  these  people  as  to 

the  direction  from  which 
they  originally  came. 
They  have  a  general  idea 
of  land  far  to  the  north. 
They  are  aware  that  the 
land  is  inhabited  by  the 
musk-ox,  and  there  are 
misty  traditions  of  the 
existence,  somewhere  in 
that  region,  of  a  race  much 
larger  than  themselves. 
Yet  the  only  migrations 
which  can  be  fixed  defin- 
itely are  from  the  west 
side  of  Baffin  Bay  and 
Davis  Strait.  Two  such 
accessions  to  their  number 
have  occurred  within  the 
memory  of  living  individ- 
uals of  the  tribe.  Both  of 
these  migrations  consisted 
of  one  or  two  families  each, 
and  there  are  now  living 
in  the  tribe  five  individuals 
who  were  born  on  the 
western  side.  In  connection  with  one  of  these,  an 
old  hunter,  an  interesting  incident  occurred. 

During  the  homeward  voyage  of  the  Kite  we 
touched  at  Dexterity  Harbour,  on  the  west  side  of 
Baffin  Bay,  and  found  there  a  considerable  settlement 
of  the  west-side  natives.     In  conversation  with  these 


FIGURE  OF  8-YEAR-OLD  GIRL. 


Appendix  II 


489 


natives,  we  learned  that  they  knew  of  this  hunter  and 
his  sister,  and  one  old  woman  in  the  village  had, 
when  a  girl,  seen  him,  but  she  said  that  he  had  gone 
north  years  ago,  and  then  disappeared,  no  one  knew 
where.  They  expressed  the  liveliest  interest  in  hear- 
ing about  him,  and 
from  them  we  learned 
that  as  a  young  man 
this  same  hunter  had 
lived  at  various  times 
all  the  way  from  Cum- 
berland Gulf  to  the 
shores  of  Ellesmere 
Land,  north  of  Jones 
Sound.  There  seemed 
to  be  no  possible 
chance  for  this  to  be 
a  case  of  mistaken 
identity,  as  the  sister 
of  this  hunter  was  a 
deaf-mute,  and  these 
people  spoke  of  this 
in  describing  her. 

The  study  of  this 
tribe,  and  the  collec- 
tion of  accurate  infor- 
mation in  regard  to  it, 
have  been  among  the 
objects  of  my  various 
expeditions,  and  the 
opportunities  for  such 
study,  owing  to  the  smallness  of  the  tribe,  and  its  soli- 
tary imprisonment  among  the  great  Arctic  glaciers, 
together  with  its  especially  kindly  and  tractable  dis- 
po'sition,  have  made  it  possible  to  obtain  many  valuable 
data  in  regard  to  its  customs  and  habits,  and  in  par- 


NUPSAH. 
Showing  Male  Physique. 


49°       Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 


ticLilar  to  secure  an  absolutely  complete  and  accurate 
census  of  the  tribe,  with  ethnological  descriptions  and 
photographs. 

That  the  tribe  was  originally  much  more  numerous 
than  at  present  seems  to  be 
borne  out,  not  only  by  their 
own  statement,  but  by  the  ex- 
istence of  many  ancient  igloos 
all  along  the  coast,  from  Bush- 
.  nan  Island  nearly  to  the  Hum- 

H  boldt    Glacier.      There    seems 

^  to  be  also  a  definite  tradition 

that,  in  years  past,  the  climate 
was  different  from  what  it  is 
now,  not,  perhaps,  any  warmer, 
but  with  much  less  wind  and 
fog  along  the  coast.  That  the 
tribe  previous  to  my  visit  was 
either  increasing  or  decreasing 
in  numbers  I  should  be  strongly 
inclined  to  doubt,  it  being  prob- 

Xable  that  nature's  balance  be- 
tween the  population  and  the 
food-producing  capabilities  of 
the  country  had  been  estab- 
lished for  generations. 
But  since  my  first  expedition 
>^  *  in  1 89 1  there  has  been  a  marked 
preponderance  of  the  birth- 
rate over  the  death-rate,  until 
the  epidemic  of  1 895-1 896  deci- 
mated the  tribe,  carrying  off 
eleven  per  cent.  In  the  year  since,  the  birth-rate  is 
again  in  excess.  This  is  due,  I  have  no  doubt,  to  the 
improved  weapons  and  implements  which  I  have  given 
them,  and  which  have  increased  the  hunting  effective- 


NUPSAH. 
Showing  Male  Physique. 


49 : 


Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 


ness  of  the  males  at  least  one  hundred  per  cent.,  and 
have  therefore  kept  the  tribe  better  nourished  and  in 
better  condition  to  withstand  the  severities  which  are 
their  daily  lot.  That  this  increase  will  be  very  con- 
siderable or  continued  for  any  length  of  time  is  not 
likely,  as  the  balance  will  again  be  adjusted. 

In  disposition  and  temperament  these  people  are  a 

race  of  children, 
simple,  kindly, 
cheerful,  and  hos- 
pitable. In  powers 
of  endurance,  in 
certain  directions, 
they  probably  are 
not  surpassed  by 
any  other  known 
race,  and  in  their 
ingenuity  and  the 
intelligence  dis- 
pla)ed  in  making 
use,  to  the  fullest 
extent,  of  every 
one  of  the  few  pos- 
sibilities of  their 
country  which 
can  assist  them  to 
live  and  be  com- 
fortable, they  are,  in  my  opinion,  ahead  of  any  other 
aboriginal  race.  Of  arts,  sciences,  culture,  manufac- 
tures, and  such  other  adjuncts  of  civilisation,  they 
know  nothing. 

There  is  no  form  of  government  amonij  them,  no 
chief,  each  man  being  supreme  in  his  own  family,  and 
literally  and  absolutely  his  own  master.  Such  a  thing 
as  real-estate  interest  is  unknown  to  them.  Every 
man  owns  the  whole  country  and  can  locate  his  house 


WKESl  LINU. 


Appendix  II 


493 


and  hunt  where  his  fancy  dictates.  The  products  of 
the  hunts  are  common  property  with  slight  Hmitations, 
as,  for  example,  anything  smaller  than  a  seal  is  the 
property  of  the  hunter  who  captures  it ;  yet,  unwritten 
laws  require  him  to  be  generous  even  with  this,  if  he 
can  do  so  without  starving  his  own  family.      Personal 


BOXING. 


possessions  are  of  necessity  very  limited,  consisting 
almost  entirely  of  clothing,  travelling  equipments, 
weapons  and  implements,  and  a  single  skin  tent  or 
tupik.  Every  man  is  his  own  tailor,  shoemaker, 
boat-builder,  house  carpenter,  and  everything  else  ;  in 
other  words,  each  family  is  literally  and  absolutely 
independent  and  self-supporting,  and  could  continue 


494        Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

its  existence  for  an  indefinite  length  of   time  without 
external  assistance. 

Their  ideas  of  astronomy  are  definite,  though 
necessarily  limited.  They  recognise  the  Great  Dip- 
per as  a  herd  of  reindeer ;  the  three  triangular  stars 
of  Cassiopeia  are  the  three  stones  supporting  a  celestial 
stone  lamp ;  the  Pleiades  are  a  team  of  dogs  in 
pursuit  of  a  bear  ;  the  three  glittering  brilliants  of  the 
belt  of  Orion  are  the  steps  cut  by  some  celestial 
Eskimo  in  a  steep  snow-bank  to  enable  him  to  climb 
to  the  top  ;  Gemini  are  two  stones  in  the  entrance  to 


ARM  PULL. 


an  igloo  ;  Arcturus  and  Aldebaran  are  personifica- 
tions ;  and  the  moon  and  sun  are  a  maiden  and  her 
pursuing  lover.  These  Eskimos  estimate  time  by 
the  movements  of  the  stars,  as  well  as  by  the  position 
of  the  sun,  and  yet,  less  observant  than  were  the  Arab 
shepherds,  they  have  not  noticed  that  one  star  is  the 
centre  about  which  all  the  others  move,  nor  have  they 
set  apart  the  planets,  which  to  them  are  simply  large 
stars.  Probably  this  is  due  to  the  fact  that  the  move- 
ments of  stars  can  be  observed  during  only  three 
months  of  the  year. 


49^        Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

As  regards  morals,  these  people  do  not  stand  high 
according  to  our  scale.  The  wife  is  as  much  a  piece 
of  personal  property  which  may  be  sold,  exchanged, 
loaned,  or  borrowed,  as  a  sledge  or  a  canoe.  It 
must  be  said  in  their  favour,  however,  that  children  as 
well  as  aged  and  infirm  members  of  the  tribe  are  well 


WRIST  PULL. 


taken  care  of,  and  that  for  the  former  the  parents 
evince  the  liveliest  affection. 

There  seems  to  be  no  marriage  ceremony.  The 
matrimonial  arrangement  is  frequently  perfected  by 
the  parents  while  the  parties  are  children. 

As  the  female  is  eligible  for  marriage  much  earlier 


Appendix  II 


497 


than  the  male,  a  girl  may  be  appropriated  by  a  man 
whose  wife  has  died,  before  her  intended  is  old  enough 
to  marr)'.  This  arrangement  may  continue,  or  her 
intended  may  claim  her  when  he  is  old  enough.  This 
is  largely  a  matter  of  mutual  agreement. 

Young  couples  frequently  change  partners  several 
times  in  the  first  year  or  two,  till  both  are  suited, 
when  the  union  is  practically  permanent,  except  for 
temporary  periods  during  which  an  exchange  may  be 
effected  with  another  man,  or  the  wife  loaned  to  a 
friend. 


TUG  OF  WAR. 


As  the  males  are  considerably  in  excess  there  is 
a  constant  demand  for  wives,  and  girls  frequently 
marry  while  still  as  tiat-chested  and  lank-hipped  as 
a  boy. 

Though  not  lacking  in  warmth  of  blood  they  are 
not  a  prolific  people.  The  females  arrive  at  the  age 
of  puberty  neither  very  early  nor  very  late,  but  ac- 
cording to  their  own  statements  they  never  have  chil- 
dren, even  with  every  possible  provocation,  till  at  least 
three  years  later,  and  I  am  inclined  to  think  the  state- 
ment is  substantially  correct. 


49^       Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

Motherhood  and  the  various  female  functions  cause 
them  hardly  if  any  more  inconvenience  than  is  the 
case  with  animals. 

Of  religion,  properly  speaking,  they  have  none. 
The  nearest  approach  to  it  is  simply  a  collection  of 
miscellaneous  superstitions  and  beliefs  in  good  and 
evil  spirits.  It  may  be  said,  in  relation  to  this  latter 
subject,  that  information  in  regard  to  it  is  extremely 


ESKIMOS  IN  THEIR  KAYAKS. 


difficult  to  obtain,  and  probably  the  bottom  facts  of 
the  matter  will  be  known  only  when  some  enthusiast 
is  willing  to  devote  five  or  six  years  of  his  time  to 
living  with  them  and  doing  as  they  do,  becoming  in 
fact  one  of  them. 

In  physical  appearance  the  members  of  the  tribe 
are  below  the  average  stature,  generally  well  built, 
plump  and  rounded  in  figure,  and  deceptively  heavy. 


Appendix  II 


499 


The  popular  idea  that  the  people  of  this  tribe  are 
of  small  size  is,  in  general,  true  ;  but  there  are  com- 
parative giants  among  them,  and  I  could  name  several 
who  stand  in  the  neighbourhood  of  five  feet  ten,  and 
weigh  from  one  hundred  and  seventy-five  to  one  hun- 
dred and  eighty-four  pounds,  net.  A  man  of  these 
dimensions,  when  dressed  in  his  midwinter  costume 
of  bear-  and  deerskin,  looms  up  like  a  Colossus.  The 
women  are  quite  small,  but  they,  as  well  as  the  men, 
are  very  solid,  and  extremely  deceptive  as  to  weight. 
The  muscular  develop- 
ment of  the  men  is  aston- 
ishing, but  here  again  they 
are  very  deceptive  in  ap- 
pearance, the  external  cov- 
ering of  blubber,  which 
they  possess  in  common 
with  the  seal,  the  walrus, 
and  the  bear,  destroying 
the  differentiation  of  their 
great  muscles,  and  giv- 
ing them  a  smooth  and 
rounded  appearance. 

Were  it  not  for  their 
dirtiness  and  the  unpleasant  odours  resulting  from 
their  mode  of  life,  many  of  them,  of  both  sexes,  would 
be  by  no  means  disagreeable  of  presence.  In  regard 
to  the  younger  members  of  the  tribe  in  particular, 
while  their  faces  are  not  by  any  means  perfect,  there 
seems  to  be  a  generally  pleasing  expression,  especially 
when  interested  or  engaged  in  conversation. 

Their  clothing  is  composed  entirely  of  furs  and  skins 
of  animals  and  birds,  and,  in  pattern  and  adaptation  of 
each  material  to  a  certain  purpose,  is  the  result  of  an 
evolution  extending  through  generation  after  genera- 
tion, until  to-day  the    Eskimo  dress  may  be  consid- 


POOADLOONAH. 


^■n 

h 

HiQI^y'.  '-'-'^^^^^^^91 

1 

Appendix  II 


501 


ered  perfect  for  the  conditions  under  which  it  is  worn. 
There  is  a  difference,  chiefly  in  the  upper  garments, 
between  the  summer  and  winter  dress,  the  former  con- 
sisting of  sealskin,  birdskin,  and  bearskin  ;  the  latter 
of  deer-,  fox-,  and  bearskin. 


BRAIDING  A  BOWSTRING. 

Their  habitations  in  summer  consist  of  tupiks,  or 
tents,  of  sealskin,  and  in  winter  of  igloos  built  of  stones 
chinked  with  moss,  covered  with  moss  and  turf,  and 
banked  in  with  snow.  In  the  spring  and  when  travel- 
ling, a  snow  igloo  built  of  cut  blocks  of  snow  serves  as 
a  dwelling.'     For  sustenance  these  people  depend  en- 

'  The  winter  habitations  of  the  Whale-Sound  Eskimos  are  known  under  the 
general  term,  igloo.  There  are  really  tliree  varieties  of  these  dwellings,  to  only 
one  of  which  is  the  name  igloo  applied  by  the  Eskimos  themselves  : 

1st,  igloo, — a  hut  the  walls  and  entire  roof  of  which   are  built  solely  of  .stones. 

2d,  iangi?tah, — a  hut  the  walls  and  a  portion  only  of  the    roof,  or  perhaps 


502        Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

tirely  upon  the  results  of  the  hunt,  which  is  energetic- 
ally prosecuted  whenever  practicable  against  the  wal- 
rus, the  seal,  the  deer,  the  bear,  narwhal,  white  whale. 


H^i 

^^^^Kw^                                            Tj^H^^H 

Hpv^P 

l^^^^^F^'     '  Wm 

't^TT^'''^ 

■H^^^^^^^^^BM^^L           i/B#.    1    .  /   ^^^^H 

^^^^^^^^^^K-'lr'*'                J 

I^^^IHhi 

STRETCHING  A  SEALSKIN  TO  DRY. 

fox,  and  hare.  While  they  can  hardly  be  said  to  be 
hunted,  yet  thousands  and  thousands  of  sea-birds,  little 

the  walls  only,  of  which  are  built  of  stones,  the  gap  in  the  roof  being  covered 
with  skins. 

3d,  i^looyah^ — a  hut  built  entirel)'  of  snow  blocks. 

The  igloos  proper  were  undoubtedly  all  built  generations  ago,  when  the  peo- 
ple had  absolutely  no  wood,  and  their  rude  weapons  enabled  them  to  capture 
barely  enough  game  to  furnish  skins  for  their  clothing,  without  any  to  spare  for 
covering  their  houses. 

The  kangniah  is  merely  a  simplified  igloo,  rendered  possible  by  the  increased 
prosperity  of  the  tribe.  It  is  much  easier  to  build  only  the  narrower  portion  of 
the  roof  of  stones,  and  cover  the  remainder  with  sealskins  laid  across  sticks  and 
covered  in  with  turf.  And  it  is  a  still  further  economy  of  labour,  if  a  man  (as  is 
often  the  case  now)  has  two  tupiks.  or  sealskin  tents,  to  merely  build  the  walls  of 
his  igloo,  and  then  roof  it  over  entirely  with  his  second-best  tupik,  folded  and 
laid  upon  poles,  then  ct)vered  with  turf  and  snow. 


Appendix  II 


503 


auks  and  looms,  are  obtained  with  nets  and  stored  for 
winter  use. 

Of  these  various  animals,  the  seal  is  perhaps  the 
staple,  with  the  walrus  next.  The  meat  of  these  two 
animals  is  about  equally  prized,  and  the  blubber  is 
equally  valuable  for  cooking  purposes  and  forheatinsf 
the  houses.      Next  come  the  narwhal  and  the  white 


MAKING  A  HARPOON  LINE. 


whale,  then  the  bear,  while  the  deer,  fox,  and  hare 
form'  a  very  small  item  in  the  Eskimo  menu,  and  may 
be  considered  rather  as  delicacies  than  as  staples. 

As  for  occupation,  these  people  may  be  said  to  have 
but  one,  namely,  hunting,  and  the  construction  and 
keeping  in  repair  of  the  weapons  and  accessories  re- 
quired by  it.  From  the  return  of  the  sun  till  its  de- 
parture,  the  various  animals  are  hunted  in   turn   in 


504       Northward  over  the  "  Great  Ice  " 

accordance  with  the  season  and  locahty  ;  and  during 
the  winter  the  surplus  supply  of  meat  obtained  during 
the  hunting  season  is  consumed  in  carrying  the  tribe 
through  the  dark  night.  During  this  night  there  are 
three  moons,  and  the  light  afforded  by  each  of  these 
is  utilised  by  the  natives  in  travelling  between  the 
different  settlements  and  paying  their  annual  calls  ;  an 


STRETCHING  A  HARPOON  LINE. 

amusement  varied  frequently  by  the  excitement  of  a 
moonlight  conflict  with  a  polar  bear. 

Their  amusements  are  few.  In  summer  there  are 
tests  of  strength  between  the  young  men  of  the  tribe, 
consisting  of  wrestling,  pulling,  lifting,  and  a  rude 
kind  of  boxing.  In  winter  the  sole  amusements  are 
marital  pleasures,  and  the  songs  and  improvisations 
of  the  ans^akoks,  or  medicine-men,  of  the  tribe.      In 


a. 
u 

i? 

X    "? 

o. 
<i      . 

u 

'^    o 

<  s 

a: 
o 


5o6       Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice 


the  choruses  of  these  the  entire  assembled  company 
join. 

In  several  ways  these  Eskimos  are  unique  among 
aboriginal  tribes,  and  their  idiosyncrasies  in  these 
matters  compel  my  admiration  and  respect. 

They  have  no  unnatural  or  depraved  appetites  or 
habits  ;  no  stimulants  or  intoxicants  ;  no  narcotics  ; 
no  slow  poisoning.  Nor  do  they  in  any  way  muti- 
late or  disfigure  the  form  the  Creator  gave  them,  or 
modify  or  pervert  the  natural  functions.  Neither 
have  they  any  medicines.  Their  diseases  are  princi- 
pally rheumatism  and  lung  and 
bronchial  troubles.  The  causes 
of  death  among  the  men  come 
largely  under  the  terse  Western 
expression,  "with  their  boots 
on." 

A  kayak  capsizes,  and  the  oc- 
cupant is  hurled  into  the  icy 
water  ;  a  hunter  harpoons  a  wal- 
rus or  bearded  seal  from  the 
ice,  a  bight  of  the  line  catches 
round  arm  or  leg,  and  the  big 
brute  drags  him  under  to  his  death  ;  an  iceberg  cap- 
sizes as  he  is  passing  it  ;  a  rock  or  snow-slide  from  the 
steep  shore  cliffs  crushes  him  ;  or  a  bear  tears  him 
mortally  with  a  stroke  of  his  paw  ;  and  so  on.  Occa- 
sionally, in  the  past,  starvation  has  wiped  out  an  en- 
tire village. 

On  the  death  of  a  man  or  woman,  the  body,  fully 
dressed,  is  laid  straight  upon  its  back  on  a  skin  or 
two,  and  some  extra  articles  of  clothing  placed  upon 
it.  It  is  then  covered  with  another  skin,  and  the 
whole  covered  in  with  a  low  stone  structure,  to  pro- 
tect the  body  from  dogs,  foxes,  and  ravens.  A  lamp 
with  some  blubber  is  placed  close  to  the  grave  ;  and 


FACE  CARVED  FROM  VER 
TEBRA  OF  NARWHAL. 


Appendix  II 


507 


if  the  deceased  is  a  man,  his  sledge  and  kayak,  with  his 
weapons  and  implements,  are  placed  close  by,  and  his 
favourite  dogs,  harnessed  and  attached  to  the  sledge, 
are  strangled  to  accompany  him.  If  a  woman,  her 
cooking-utensils,  and  the 
frame  on  which  she  has 
dried  the  family  boots  and 
mittens,  are  placed  beside 
the  grave.  If  she  has  a 
dog,  it  is  strangled  to  ac- 
company her ;  and  if  she 
has  a  baby  in  the  hood,  it, 
too,  must  die  with  her. 

If  the  death  occurred  in 
a  tent,  the  poles  are  re- 
moved, allowing  it  to  set- 
tle down  over  the  site,  and 
it  is  never  used  again,  but 
rots  or  is  finally  blown 
away.  If  the  death  oc- 
curred in  an  igloo,  it  is 
vacated  and  not  used  again 
for  a  long  time. 

The  relatives  of  the  de- 
ceased must  observe  cer- 
tain formalities  in  regard 
to  clothing  and  food  for 
a  certain  time  ;  the  name 
of  the  dead  person  is  never 
spoken,  and  any  other 
members  of  the  tribe  who 
have  the  same  name  must  assume  another  until  the 
arrival  of  an  infant,  to  which  the  name  can  be  ap- 
plied, removes  the  ban. 

To  many  a  good  person  the  thought  at  once  arises  : 
"  Poor  things  ;  why  don't  we  send  some  missionaries 


KOODLOOKTOO. 

Effect  of  Civilisation  upon  the  Rising 
Generation  of  Smith-Sound  Eskimos. 


5o8        Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 

to  them,  and  convert  or  civilise  them  ?  Or,  why 
would  n't  it  be  a  good  plan  to  take  them  away  from 
their  awful  home  to  a  pleasanter  region  ?  "  To  both 
these  I  answer  at  once,  "God  willing,  never,  either." 
When  I  think  of  the  mixed  race  in  South  Greenland, 
which,  in  spite  of  the  fostering  care  of  the  Danish 
Government,  is  still  like  most  half-breed  human  pro- 
ducts, inferior  to  either  original  stock  ;  when  I  recall 
the  miserable  wretches  along  the  west  coast  of  Baf- 
fin Bay,  vile  with  disease,  vitiated  with  rum,  tobacco, 
and  contact  with  the  whalers,  and  then  think  of  my 
uncontaminated,  pure-blooded,  vigorous,  faithful  little 
tribe,  I  say :  "  No  ;  God  grant  no  civilisation  to  curse 
them."  What  I  have  done  in  the  past,  and  shall  con- 
tinue to  do  in  the  future,  is  to  put  them  in  a  little 
better  position  to  carry  on  their  struggle  for  exist- 
ence ;  give  them  better  weapons  and  implements, 
lumber  to  make  their  dwellings  dryer,  instructions  in 
a  few  fundamental  sanitary  principles,  and  one  or  two 
items  of  civilised  food,  as  coffee  and  biscuit, — allies 
to  rout  the  demons,  starvation  and  cold. 

As  I  sit  here  writing  now  I  can  see  them,  already 
within  the  shadow  of  the  "  Great  Night,"  in  their  little 
stone  igloos  perched  upon  the  shore  of  the  frozen  sea, 
the  soft  light  of  their  oil  lamps  glowing  into  the  savage 
cold  and  darkness  from  door  and  sealskin  window. 
And  many  a  familiar  face  rises  in  memory  : 

Old  Komonahpik,  with  his  bronzed,  impassive  face, 
careful  and  thoroughly  reliable,  my  bow  oar  and  har- 
pooner  ;  Nooktah,  my  faithful  hunter  and  dog  driver  ; 
smiling  baby  Anador  ;  handsome  Sipsu  ;  Merktoshar, 
the  one-eyed  bear  hunter  of  Netiulumi,  famous 
throughout  the  tribe  for  many  a  single-handed  strug- 
gle with  the  polar  bear,  the  "  tiger  of  the  North." 
Though  one  eye  had  been  destroyed  by  a  knife-thrust 
when,  as  a  young  man,  in  a  desperate  struggle  with 


Appendix  II  509 

the  tattooed  men  of  the  west,  far  out  across  the  frozen 
surface  of  the  Sound,  he  had  captured  his  first  wife, 
the  remaining  eye,  glittering  through  the  straggling 
veil  of  his  long  black  hair,  saw  as  much  as  any  three 
others  in  the  entire  tribe.  It  was,  in  fact,  the  only 
sign  of  life  about  him,  except  when  the  huge  tracks 
of  his  favourite  game  flashed  every  nerve  and  muscle 
into  savage  excitement.  Then  there  was  Kyoahpadu, 
the  angakok ;  Ootoonia,  Kyogwito,  and  Myouk,  the 
three  eood-natured  o;iant  brothers  of  Narksarsomi  ; 
Kessuh  and  Nupsah,  the  dashing  dudes  of  Cape 
York  ;  Kessuh,  or  the  "  Smiler,"  the  walrus  killer  of 
Ittibloo;  with  his  half-witted  brother  Arningana,  or 
the  "  Moon " ;  Tukoomingwah,  the  child-bride  of 
Kookoo  ;  bright-faced  Alakasingwah  ;  Tartarah,  the 
kittiwake  ;  Akpalia  ;  the  "  Villain  "  ;  "  Misfortune  "  ; 
the  "  Fox  "  ;  and  the  "  Comedian." 

Fortunately  for  them,  with  no  possessions  to  ex- 
cite cupidity,  with  a  land  in  which  no  one  but  them- 
selves could  conquer  a  living,  they  are  likely  to  be 
left  in  peace,  to  live  out  the  part  appointed  them  by 
the  Creator,  undisturbed  by  efforts  to  understand 
the  white  man's  ideas  of  God,  of  right,  of  morality, 
and  uncontaminated  by  his  vices  or  diseases,  till  the 
"Great  Night"  ends  forever,  and  the  "Great  Ice" 
dissolves  in  the  convulsions  of  the  last  day. 


GENERAL  NOTE  TO  FIGURE  ILLUSTRATIONS 
IN  APPENDIX    II. 

It  is  to  be  observed,  in  connection  with  the  numerous 
partially  nude  figures  in  this  appendix,  that  it  is  not  the  usual 
custom  of  the  Eskimos  to  omit  portions  of  their  clothing. 
It  was  done  at  my  request  in  order  to  show  physique  and 
muscular  development.  In  calm  sunny  days  in  June,  July, 
and  August  there  is  no  physical  discomfort  in  such  partial 
nudity,  even  in  that  latitude. 

NOTE  TO  FULL-PAGE  PICTURE,  "COSTUME  OF  AN 
ESKIMO  WOMAN,"  APPENDIX  II. 

Figure  i  shows  a  young  woman  of  the  Whale-Sound  Es- 
kimos in  full  summer  costume  composed  of  nine  separate 
pieces,  viz. : 

Hooded  sealskin  coat    ...     i. 

Hooded  birdskin  shirt  .     .     .     i. 

Foxskin  trousers i. 

Sealskin  boots 2. 

Deerskin  stockings   ....     2. 

Sealskin   mittens 2. 

Figure  No.  2  shows  side  view  of  the  same  costume. 
Figure  No.  3  shows  the  sealskin  coat,  removed. 
Figure  No.  4  shows  the  sealskin  coat  and  boots,  removed. 
Figure  No.  5  shows  entire  costume,  except  foxskin  trousers, 
removed. 

■  NOTE  TO  PICTURE,  "  GRAVE  OF  AN  ESKIMO 
HUNTER,"  FULL-PAGE,  APPENDIX  II. 

Grave  of  Maksah  in  the  Talus  of  the  Cape-York  Cliffs. 
The  body  lies  under  the  pile  of  stones  in  the  right  foreground. 
Beyond  it  is  the  hunter's  sledge  with  his  weapons  lashed 
upon  it  ;  and  still  farther  in  the  background  are  two  dogs, 
harnessed  and  attached  to  the  sledge,  then  strangled  to  ac- 
company their  master.  To  the  left,  under  a  boulder,  is  his 
treasure  chest,  containing  the  hunter's  tools  and  valuables. 
In  the  distance  are  the  waters  of  Cape- York  Bay,  and  the 
Cape-York  Glacier.  Maksah  received  his  death  wounds  in 
a  hand-to-hand  struggle  with  a  Polar  bear.  This  picture  is 
typical. 

5  to 


CENSUS  OF  THE  SMITH-SOUND  ESKIMOS, 
AUGUST  31,   1895.' 

LEE. 

(Names  of  males  in  black-faced  type  ;  of  females  in  roman.) 
*  *  Indicates  deceased  in  epidemic  of  1895-96. 
f  Indicates  west-coast   natives   who  have  crossed   Smith   Sound  to   the 
Greenland  side. 


Ah'-bee-lah  Ah-let'-tah 

Ah'-bee-lah  Ah'-mah 

Ah'-ga-tah  Ah-me'-mia 

*  *  Ah-gee'-tcher  Ah-ming'-\vah 

*  *  Ah-go'-tah  Ah-ming-'wah 

Ah-go-tok'-suah  Ah'-ne-nah 

Ali-kah-ting'-wah  Ahng-een'-yah 

Ah-kah-ting'-wah  Ahng-ling'-wah 

f  Ah-ki-gi-ah'-soo  Ahng-mo-dok'-too 
Ali-lee'-kah                                  *  *  Ahiig'-nah 

Ah-lee'-kah  Ahng-nali'-nia 

'  This  census  I  believe  to  be  absolutely  correct.  It,  as  well  as  a  complete 
genealogy  of  the  tribe,  is  entirely  the  result  of  Lee's  patient,  persevering  work, 
and  as  with  everything  else  that  was  assigned  to  him,  he  went  at  it  with  the  in- 
tention of  having  it  right.  At  first  his  persistent  inquiries  after  their  children, 
relatives,  and  ancestors  were  regarded  with  a  certain  degree  of  suspicion  by  the 
natives,  but  finally  they  came  to  look  upon  it  as  a  harmless  indication  of  mild 
insanity,  and  since  Lee  wasn't  a  half-bad  fellow,  he  might  as  well  be  humoured 
in  it.  He  never  let  an  opportunity  slip.  While  waiting  in  an  igloo  for  our 
tea  to  brew,  after  a  long  sledge  journey,  Lee  would  cross-examine  every  native 
present  as  to  his  or  her  children,  sisters,  cousins,  aunts,  etc.,  and  frequently 
during  our  arduous  winter  trips,  if  our  sledges  ranged  alongside  on  a  bit  of 
smooth  going,  I  would  hear  him  deeply  engaged  with  his  driver  endeavouring  to 
straighten  out  some  knotty  problems  of  relationship,  or  perhaps  trying  to  secure 
the  names  of  the  driver's  great-grandmother's  children.  Me  frequently  found 
it  somewhat  difficult  to  trace  ancestry  or  descent  on  the  paternal  side,  and 
many  of  his  questions  elicited  answers  which  here  would  be  considered  embar- 
rassing to  say  the  least,  but  there  were  accompanied  by  audible  smiles  in  which 
the  entire  company  would  join, 

511 


512       Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 


Ahng-nah'-vah 

*  *  Ahng-no-ding'-wah 

Ahng-o-di-gip'-soo 

Ahng-o-do-blah'-ho 

Ahng-o-do-blah'-ho 

*  *  Ahn-i-ghi'-to 

Ah-ning-ah'-nah 
Ah-rin'-a-loo 
f  Ah-say'-oo 
Ah'-tee-tah 
Ah-tung'-i-nah 
Ah-tung'-i-nah 
Ah-tung'-i-nah 
Ah-wee'-ah 
Ah-wee'-ah 
Ah-\vee-ah-good'-loo 
Ah-\vee-aiing-o'-nah 
Ah-wee'-i-ah 
Ah-wee-i-king'-wah 

*  *  Ah-\vok-toon'-i-ah 

Ah-wo-tah 

Ah'-wo-tah 

Ah'-wo-tah 

Ah-wo-ting'-wah 

Ah-wo-tok'-suah 

Air-o'-nah 

A-kom-o-ding'-wah 

Ak'-pud-ik-su-ah'-ho 

Ak'-pud-ik-su-ah'-ho 

Al-li-ka-se'-ah 

Al-li-ka-sing'-\vah 

Al-li-ka-sing'-wah 
An-nah'-noo 

*  *  An-now'-gwe 

An-no\v'-gwe 

An-now'-kah 

As-o-pung'-wah 

As'-shoo 

At-took'-soo 

At-took-sung'-wah 

E-ging'-wah 
E-ging'-wah 


*  *  E-hing'-\vah 

E-ling-wah 
E-meen'-ah 

*  *  E-meen  -ah 

E-mu-ah'-ho 
E-mu-ah'-ho 
E-mu-ah'-ho 
E'-she 

E-took'-i-shoo 
E-took'-i-shoo 
f  E-too-shok'-su-ah 
E'-ve-loo 

I'-gi-ah 

Ihl'-lie 

Ihl'-lie 

Ik-klav-ci'-shoo 

Ik-klay-o'-shoo 

Ik-kla)'-o'-shoo 

Ik'-wah 

Ilk-lain'-nah 

Ilk-lain'-nah 

*  *  Ilk'-loo 

Il-li-a-ting'-wah 

Il-li-a'-too 

Il-li-a'-too 

*  *  In-ad-le'-ah 

In-ad-le'-ah 

Ing-op'-o-doo 

In-noo-ah'-ho 

*  *  In-noo-ah'-ho 

In-noo-gwe -tah 
In-noo-gwe'-tah 

*  *  In-noo'-i-tah 

In-noo'-i-tah 

In-noo-ka-se'-ah 

In'-noo-loo 

In'-noo-loo 

In-noo-hmg'-wah 

*  *  In-noo'-tah 

In-noo'-tah 

I-o-whit'-te 

Is-she'-a-too 


Census 


513 


Is-she'-a-too 


Kud-look'-too 


Kah-ra'-shoo 
Kah-shad'-dow 
Kai-ko-tcher' 

*  *  Kai-o-gwe'-too 

Kai'-oh 

Kai  o-look'-too 

Kai  oo'-nah 

Kai-op'-o-doo 

Kai-o'-shoo 

Kai-o'-tah 

Kai-o'-tah 

Kai-o'-tcher 

*  *  Kai-ung'-wah 

Kai'-we-kah 

Kai-we-ok'-su-ah 

Kai-we-ok'-su-ah 

Kai-wingf-wah 

Kar'dah 

Kee'-ri-kah 

Kes  shoo' 

Kes-shoo' 

Kes-shoo' 

Kes-shoo' 

Klay'-oo 

Klay'-oo 

Klay-ung'-wah 

Klip-e-sok'-su-ah 

Klip-e-sok'-su-ah 

*  *  Klip-e-sok'-su-ah 

*  *  Klip-e-soon'-ah 

Ko'ko 
f  Ko-mon-ah'-pik 
Koo-che-gwe'-tah 
Kood-loo-tin'-ah 
Kood-loo-tin'-ah 
Kood-loo-tin'-ah 
Koo'-lee 

Koo-loo-ting'-wah 
Kow-oo'-nah 
Kud'-lah 
Kud'-lah 

VOL.    I.— 33. 


Mah-ho'-tcher 

*  *  Mah-so'-nah 

Mah-so'-nah 
Mah-so'-nah 
Mak-sing'-wah 
Me'-gi-ah 

*  *  Me-gip'-soo 

(Unnamed  infant) 
Me-giji'-soo 

*  *  Mek'-koo 

Mek'-koo 
Me'-nie 
f  Merk-to-shar' 
Me'-uk 
Me'-uk 
Mok'-sah 
Mok'-sah 
Mok'-sah 
Mok-sang'-wah 

*  *  Mok-sang'-wah 

Mok-sang'-wah 

*  *  Mon'-nie 

Mon'-nie 
Mon'-nie 
Mon'-u-me-mia 
Muk'-tah 
My -ah 

*  *  Nah-wah'-nah 

Ne-ling^-wah 

Nel-lo'-kah 

Nel-li-ka-te'-ah 

Net'-too 

New-i-kee'-nah 

New-i-king'-wah 

New-i-king'-wah 

*  *  New-i-le'-ah 

New-i-ok'-sii-ah 
Nip-sang'-wah 
Nook'-tah 
Now-ding'-wah 


514        Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice" 


Now-e-het'-choo 

Now-e-og'-le 
No\v-e-og'-le 
Nup'-sah 

Oh'-tah 
Ok'-klo 
Ok'-klo 

Ok-ko-ting'-wah 
Ok-pud-ding'-wah 
Ok  pud-ding'-wah 
f  Ok-pud-i-ah'-pe 

*  Om-mo'-nel-li 
Ong'-na-gloo 
Ong' na-gloo 
Oo-bloo'-iah 
Oo-bloo  iah 

*  Oo'-gwe 
Oo'-mah 
Oong'-wah 
Oo'  qui-ah 
Oo-slie-a'-too 
Oo-toon'-i-ah 
Oo-toon-i-ok'-su-ah 

Pad-lung'-wah 

Pan'-ik-pah 

Pew-ah'-tew 

Poad-loo'-nah 

Poad-loo'-nah 

Poad-loo'-nah 

Poob'-lah 

Poob'-lah 

Poo'-too 


Sag'-wah 
Sed'-lah 
Shak-up-soon'-ah 

Shoo-i-king'-wah 

Sig'-loo 

Sim'-e-ah 

Sin-ah'-ew 

Si-oo-de-ka'-too 

Sip'-soo 

Sow'-nah 

*  Sow'-nah 
Suk'-kun 
Sum-ming'-wah 

Tah'-tah-rah 
Tah-u-i'-nah 

*  Tah-ving'-wah 
Tah'-win  nah 
Ted-i-ling'-wah 
Tel-e-ka-te'-ah 
Teri-cheer' 
Teri-ching'-wah 
Teri-ching'-wah 
Teri-ching'-wah 
Took'-i-mah 
Took'-i-niah 
Took-i-ming'-wah 
Tung'-we 
Tung- win  g'-wah 
(Unnamed  infant) 

Wee'-aung 
Wee'-aung 

Wee-ok°kah 


Males,  140;  females,  113;  total,  253.  Between  August  31, 
1895,  and  August  31,  1897,  there  were  29  deaths  and  10  births, 
leaving  the  present  population  234. 


INDEX   OF   VOL.  I. 


Aborigines,  home  of  a  little  tribe  of 
Arctic,  443 

Academy,  Bay,  262,  264,  403,  463  ; 
Glacier,  349 

Academy  of  Natural  Sciences  of  Phil- 
adelphia, xxi,  xxii,  44,  241,  349,  422  ; 
flag  of,  350 

Ackland,  Cape,  143,  468 

Adams,  C.  C,  xxi,  xxiii,  xxxii 

Adams,   Mount,  465 

Airshafts,   84 

Alexander,  Cape,  152,  470 

American  Geographical  Society,  xxi, 
xxii,  XXV,  xxvi,  xxviii 

American  Museum  of  Natural  His- 
tory, xxvii 

Ammunition,  50 

Andersen,  Inspector,  4,  57,  5S  ;   Mrs., 

57 

Anniversary,  birthday,  8S  ;  wedding; 
88 

Anthropological  measurements,  174 

Arctic  Highlanders,  68,  493 

Arveprins  Island,  7 

Ashhurst,   Krazer,  48,  81 

Astrtip,  Eivind,  46,  58,  88,  94,  97, 
104,  107,  109,  III,  113,  120, 
128-130,  139,  140,  145,  149,  162, 
177,  181,  191,  192,  195,  199,  203, 
208,  216,  221,  225,  236,  238,  263. 
282,  284,  288,  290,  296,  301.  304, 
309.  3' 3.  320,  331,  338,  342,  349, 
354.  364.  380,  381.  385  ;  recogni- 
tion of  the  services  of,  424 

Atanekerdluk,  24,  27  ;  fossil-beds  of. 
418 

Athletic  games,  189 

Athol,  Cape,  454 

Auk,  little,  90,  107  ;  breeding-place 
of,  452 

Aurora,  38.  148,  149,  163,  175 


B 

Baffin,    discovery    of    Greenland    by 

Bylot  and,  448,  459 

Barden  Bay,  460  ;  inhabitants  of,  257 

Baring,  Cecil,  xxvii 

Bay,  Academy,  262,  264,  403,  463  ; 
Barden,  257,  460  ;  Bowdoin,  249, 
394,  466  ;  Disco,  5,  7,  8,  24,  57  ; 
Granville,  455  ;  Independence, 
349  ;  McCormick,  6g,  75,  87,  144; 
surface  of,  213,  215,  249,  469; 
Melville,  48,  60,  61,  73;  Olriks, 
259,  262,  461  ;  Robertson,  412, 
470 

Bear,  polar,  29.  32,  66,  67,  195 

Belle  Isle,  Straits  of,  53,  55 

Bell  Rock,  456 

Bergs,  5,  22.  23,  30,  63,  67,  83,  85, 
87,  88,  155  ;  fleet  of,  399;  frag- 
ments of.  390  ;  scattered,  347 

Beyer,  Governor,  60 

Black  guillemot,  107 

Boat  Camp,  147 

Boat  voyage,  97 

Bowdoin  Bay,  349,  394,  466  ;  (Jlacier, 

294.  475 
Bridgman,  H.  L.,  xxxii 
Brinton,  Dr.,  xxiv 
Brooklyn  Institute,  xxi 
Brlinnich's  guillemot,  91 
Bryant,  Henry  G.,  xxvi,  xxvii,  411 
Bumble-bee,  347,  352 
Burke.  Dr.  Wm.,  48 
Butterflies,  352 


Cache,  74,  115  ;  blubber,  117  ;  Camp, 
287 

Cairn,  122  ;  on  Navy  Cliff,  349  ; 
record  in.  349 

Camp,  Boat,  147  ;  Cache,  2S7  ;  Sepa- 
ration, 296 


515 


5i6       Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice 


Cannon,  H.  \V.,  xxxii 

Cannon,  J.  G.,  xxxii 

Camping  on  the  ice-cap,  282 

Cape,  Ackland,  143,  46S  ;  Alexander, 
152,  47c  ;  Athol,  454  ;  Chalon,  470  ; 
Cleveland,  82,  103,  114,  141,  155, 
22:,  24g,  468:  ascent  of,  225  ; 
Farewell,  56  ;  Glacier,  345  ;  Parry, 
68,  457  ;  Robertson,  154,  470  ;  Sa- 
bine, 48,  82  ;  Tyrconnel,  68  ;  York, 
68,  187,  193,  235,  44S  ;  location  of, 
452 

Castle  Cliffs,  396,  466 

Catamaran.  15,  17,  iS 

Chalon,  Cape,  470 

Chamberlin,  Prof.  T.  C,  475  ;  geo- 
logical description  by,  449 

Chamberlin  Glacier,  455,  475 

Channel,  Robeson,  345 

Chapman,  Dr.,  x.xv 

Childs  Glacier.  475 

Christmas  dinner,  183 

Cleveland,  Cape,  82,  103,  114,  141, 
i?5,  221,  249,  46S  ;  ascent  of,  225 

Clifls.84;  Castle,  396,  466;  Crimson, 
454  ;  Red,  75  ;  Sculptured,  of  Kar- 
nah, 392 

Climate  of  North  Greenland,  490 

Clothing,  dogskin,  211  ;  drying  of, 
268;  fur,  159;  of  sunrise  party, 
199  ;  reindeer.  2 it 

Conical  Rock,  68 

Construction  of  house,  78 

Cook,  Dr.  F.  A.,  45,  65,  92,  97  ;  in- 
structions to,  100,  104,  107,  109, 
III,  129.  133,  141-143.  145.  149. 
168,  174,  175,  181,  191,  192,  199, 
203,  209,  216,  221,  284,  287,  288, 
296,  385  ;  recognition  of  the  serv- 
ices of,  423 

Corridor,  80 

Crevasse,  10,  n,  16-18,  20,  306,  310; 
avoided,  360 

Crimson  Cliffs,  45  | 

Cubs,  polar-bear,  67 

Cumberland  Sound,  36 

D 

"  Daisy,"  153,  169 

Daly,  judge  Chas.  P.,  xsi.xxiii,  xxvii, 

xxxi.  xxxii 
Daly,  Mount,  465,  476 
Dahlgren,  Miss  Ulrica,  xxiii 
Danish  Greenland,  56 


Davis  Strait,  3 

Day,  length  of  Arctic,  446 

Deer,  rein-,  i,  2,  88,  227  ;  four  killed, 
400 ;  home  of  the,  462  ;  hunting 
the,  231  ;  obtained,  394  ;  pasturage 
for,  392,  396,  455  ;  spring  hunting 
of,  229 

Deerskins,  III,  159;  texture  of,  230 

Devil's  Thumb,  61 

Dexterity  Harbour.  28 

Diebitsch,  Emil,  xxvii 

Diebitsch  Glacier,  475 

Dinner,   Christmas,  83  ;   Eskimo,   184 

Disco,  16 

Disco  Bay,  5,  7,  8,  24,  57 

Disco  Island,  26,  60 

Dixon,  Dr..  xxv 

Dogs,  Eskimo,  153;  catching,  290; 
conquered.  3159  ;  disease  of,  164 ; 
driven  over  ice-blink,  301  ;  eat  dog, 
303  ;  exhausted,  336  ;  fed  on  musk- 
oxen.  340  ;  in  a  crevasse,  312 ; 
killed.  362  ;  king  of  team.  311  ; 
loose,  290;  remaining,  376;  rest- 
less, 2S7  ;  skins  of,  164;  well-fed, 
352 

Dogskin  clothing,  211 

Drifts,  snow.  295 

Duck  Islands,  60 

Ducks,  eider,  5,  56,  61,  67,  107 


Eai^lc,  S.S.,  the,  3,  5,    27-31,  32,   34, 

36 

Egedesminde,  58 

Eider-ducks.  5.  56,  61,  67,  107 

Equipment.  49  ;  for  Inland-Ice  jour- 
ney. 277  ;  household,  84  ;  over- 
hauling, 357 

Eskimos,  22,  73,  91.  92,  109,  iii, 
116,  118,  138,  I5i)-i52,  164,  170, 
405  ;  amusements  of  the,  504  ;  an- 
cient igloos  of  the,  490  ;  animals 
hunted  by  the,  502  ;  appearance  of 
the,  484,  487  ;  arrival  of  the.  187,  238; 
astronomy  of  the,  494  ;  burial  cus- 
tomsof  the,  506  ;  civilising  the,  508  ; 
clothing  of  the,  499,  501  ;  condition 
of  the,  483  ;  crew  of,  3S7  ;  customs 
of  the,  507  ;  diseases  of  the.  506  ; 
disposition  of  the.  4q2  ;  emigrations 
of  the,  488 ;  ethnological  photographs 
of,  174,  175;  family  of  the,  120; 
food  of   the,    480  ;  government   of 


Index 


517 


the,  492  ;  graves  of  the,  116,  iiS  ; 
habitaiions  of  the,  g3,  114,  115, 
501  ;  increase  of  the,  4go  ;  intelli- 
gence of  the,  483  ;  marriage  cus- 
toms of  the,  4q7  ;  morals  of  the, 
496;  number  of,  49S,  499;  prop- 
erty of  the,  493  ;  religion  of  the, 
49S ;  settlements  of,  110,  iiS,  405; 
of  Barden  Bay,  257;  of  Ittibloo, 
259;  of  Keate,  256;  of  Netiulumi, 
257  ;  of  Smith  Sound,  479  ;  study 
of  the,  489  ;  surroundings  of  the, 
484  ;  visitors.   194.  235 

Ethnological  photographs,  174,  175 

Exercise,  170,  177 

Expedition,  Greely's,  48  ;  North 
Greenland,  44,  47  ;  end  of,  422  ; 
objects  of,  43S  ;  results  of.  438  ; 
West  Greenland,  45.  47.  48.  82 

Exploration,  base  of  Northern,  444; 
North  Greenland,  73 


Faith,  the,  105 

Falcon,  Greenland,  go,  352 

Fan  Glacier.  388 

Farewell,  Cape,  56 

Farquhar,  U.  S.  N.,  Com.  N.  H., 
xxii,  wiii 

Farquhar  Glacier.  474 

Fencker.  Inspector.  4:0 

Firearms,  50 

Five-Glacier  Valley,  I4g 

Fjord,  Kangendluarsarsoak,  20  ;  Ome- 
nak,  24,  60  ;  Pakitsok,  7,  20  ;  Peter- 
mann,  305  ;  Sherard-Osborne,  314, 
371  ;  St.  George's,  308  ;  Tossu- 
katek,  22.  24 

Flowers.    5,  20.  6g,  322,  350.  396 

Fohn,  Arctic,  214 

Food  supply,  49 

Foot-race.  186 

Fossil-beds  of  Atanekerdluk,  418 

Fossils,  26 

Fox.  69.  109.  123,  149 ;  blue,  89  ; 
traps.   69.  107,  114,  115,  1S6,  igg 

Frederick,  6 

Frederickshaab  Glacier,  56 

Fur  clothing,  159 


Games,  athletic,  i8g 
Gibson,    Langdon,    45,    65,    g3,    g7  ; 
instructions  to,  gS,  117,   I2g,   139, 


145,  14S,  I4g,  153.  168,  199,  227, 
231,  236,  247,  248,  257,  263,  284, 
28S,  290,  294,  2g6,  385,  411  ;  rec- 
ognition of  services  of,  424  ;  report 
of,  103-114 

Glacier,  76,  no,  122;  Academy,  349; 
Bowdoin,  394,  475  ;  Chamberlin, 
455.  475  ;  Childs,  475  ;  Dlebit^ch, 
475;  examination  of,  270;  Kan, 
388  ;  Farquhar,  474  ;  Fredericks- 
haab, 56  ;  Great  Kariak.  24  ;  Hang- 
ing. 12S.  137,  147;  Hart,  399; 
Heilprin,  266,  39S.  474;  Hubbard, 
397,  466;  Humboldt.  130,  292, 
295,  378;  Hurlbut.  270;  Ittibloo, 
260,  475;  Jacobshavn,  10;  Jesup, 
475  ;  Leidy,  404,  475  ;  I  izard,  399  ; 
Melville,  398,  474  ;  Misumisu,  475  ; 
Moore,  455,  475;  of  the  Scarlet 
Heart,  14S  ;  Petowik,  63,  454,  474  ; 
Salisbury,  455,  475  ;  Savage,  475  ; 
Sun,  136,  147,  475  ;  Tossukatek, 
21,  23  ;  Tracy,  398,  474  ;  Verhoeff, 
415,  475 

Glacier  Cape,  345 

Godhaab,  56  ;  visit  to,  419 

Godhavn,  5,  27,  56,  57  ;  brief  stop  at, 
419 

Granville  Bay,  455 

Graves,  Eskimo,  ri6,  iiS 

Great  Kariak  Glacier,  24 

Greely's  Kxpedition,  48 

Greenland,  along  the  west  coast  of. 
443  ;  climate  of  North,  490  ;  Dan- 
ish, 56  ;  northern  coast  of,  343  ; 
discovery  of,  by  Bylot  and  Baffin, 
44S 

Greenland  falcon,  90.  352 

Guillemots,  105,  122;  black,  107; 
Briinnich's,  91 

Gulf,  Inglefield,  68,  I4r,  254.  465; 
circuit  of,  39S  ;  panorama  of,  263 

Gulls,  5 

II 

Habitation,    Eskimo,    g3,    loS,    114, 

115  ;  snow,  253 
Hakluyt    Island,    82,    g7,    105.    121, 

251,  472 
Hall.  Capt.,  Expedition,  471 
Hanging  Glacier,  128,  137,  147 
Harbour.  Dexterity.  28 
Hare,  Arctic.  69,  149  ;  traps,  115 
Hart,  t_»avin  \V.,  xxiv 


5i8        Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice 


Hart  Glacier,  39q 

Hayes,  Dr.  I.  1.,  47q  ;  Expedition,  471 

Heilprin,    Prof.    Angelo,    xxii,    xxiii. 

xxiv,  xxvi,  xxvii,  xxxii.  4S,    57,   58, 

60,   381,  408;    Expedition  of,  418  ; 

Glacier,  266,  39S,  474 
Hendrick,  Hans,  57 
Henson,   Matthew  A.,  46,  88,  go,  93, 

127,  141,    143,  230,  2S5,   287,  387  ; 

recognition  of  the  services  of,  424 
Herbert  Island,  63,  97,  104,  II2,  141, 

154,    236,    249,    272,    470  ;    sledge 

trip  to,  238 
Holiday,  63,  162,  181  ;  celebration  of 

a,  227  ;   preparations  for  a,  187 
Holt,  Prof,  J.  F.,  48 
Hooper,  Prof.  F.  W.,  xxiii 
House,  cleaning  of,  i6g;  construction 

of.   78;    good-bye  to,  41S  ;  location 

of,  77  ;  Polaris,  152 
House,  Red  Cliff,   88,  109,   134,  14S, 

196,  214  ;    buried,    162  ;    repairing, 

216;    return  to,  273,  385 
Hubbard  Glacier,  397,  466 
Hughes.  Dr.  Wm.  E.,  48 
Humboldt  Glacier,  130,  292,  295,  378 
Hunting,  93 
Hurlbut  Glacier,  270 

I 

Ice-blink.  5.  7-10,  12,  14,  15,  21,  23, 
176  ;  driving  dogs  o"er,  301 

Ice-cap,  5,  7,  8,  24,  27,  57,  62,  87, 
130,  195,  204,  209  ;  ascending  the, 
292  ;  climbing  to,  200,  201  ;  experi- 
ence on,  215;  flying  snow  of,  54; 
isolated,  346 ;  lunch  upon,  233  ; 
party,  return  of,  138  ;  rain  upon, 
2o5 ;  reconnaissance,  231  ;  return 
from,  212;  return  to,  352;  wel- 
come of,  2S6  ;  wind-storm  on,  2S9, 
294,  310 

Igloo,  115,  116;  ancient,  490;  con- 
struction of,  115;  night  in,  254; 
ruined  stone,  236;  snow,  201,  262 

Ikaresak  Sound,  7,  20 

Illartlek,  7 

Impedimenta  of  sunrise  party,  200 

Independence  Bay,  349 

Inglefield  Gulf,  68,  141,  254,  465  ; 
circuit  of,  39S  ;  observations  at  head 
of,  266  :  panorama,  263 ;  sledge 
trip  around,  247 

Inland    Ice,   7,    10,   50,   60,   94,    139, 


147,  23S  ;  dinner,  360  ;  equipment 
for,  277  ;  halcyon  days  upon,  376  ; 
party,  132,  133  ;  prisoners  upon, 
363  ;  supplies,  transportation  of, 
239  ;   trying  experiences  upon,  375 

Iron  rocks,  23S 

Islands,  472  ;  Arveprins,  7  :  Disco, 
26,  60;  Duck,  60;  Hakluyt,  82, 
9V,  105,  121,  251  ;  Herbert,  68,97, 
104,  112,  141,  154,  236,  249,  272, 
472  ;  Northumberland,  6g,  82,  97, 
108,  H5,  154,  249,  251,  472  ;  Ptar- 
migan, 264,  404  ;  Saunders,  235, 
472  ;  Wolstenholm,  OS,  472 

Ittibloo  Glacier,  260 

Ittibloo,  observations  at,  260 

Ivigtut,  55 

J 
Jackman,  Capt.  Arthur.  3,  28,  31,  34 
Jackson,  Fred  W. ,  xxviii 
Jacobshavn  Glacier,  10 
lesup,    .Morns   K.,  xxvii,  xxviii,  xxxi, 

xxxii,  xxxiii 
Jesup  Glacier,  475 


Kamiks,  ill,  117 

Kane,  Ur.  E.  K.,  479 

Kangarsuk,  56 

Kangendluarsarsoak  Fjord,  20 

Karnah,  Sculptured  Cliffs  of,  468 

Kayak,  7 

Keely,  Dr.  Robert,  48 

Kekertak,  21,  22,  24,  27 

Kenealy,  Alex.  C,  48,  58 

Kite,  .S.S.,  the,  43,  48,  53-55,  57, 
58,  60,  61,  63,  65,  67,  68,  81- 
S3.  85,  381  ;  at  anchor,  408, 
homeward  voyage  of,  4S8  ;  steam- 
ing homeward,  418  ;  steaming  to 
Robertson  Bay,  412 


La  Grippe,  226 

Land,  disappearance  of,   292  ;    Prud- 

hoe,  74 
Leidy,  Prof.,  xxi,  xxiii,  xxiv 
Leidy  Glacier,  404,  475 
Little  auks,   90,   107  ;  breeding-place 

of,  452 
Little  Matterhorn,  265,  472 
Lizard  Glacier,  399 
Loomery,  97,  106-108,  114 


Index 


519 


M 


Maigaard,  Christian,  7,  S,  11,  16,  18, 

20,  21 
Mail,  departure  of,  240 
Marlvhani,  Sir  Clements,  4S4  ;  theory 

of,  485  ■*->•> 

Mary  Minturn  River,  293 

Mary    Peary\    the    whale-boat,    \<^o 

387 
McCook,  Dr.,  xxiv 
McCormiuk  Bay,  69,  75,  87,  144,  213, 

215,  249.  469 
Measurements,  anthropological,  174 
Melville.    U.  S.  N.,    Chief    Engineer 

George  VV.,  xxiii,  xxxii 
Melville  Bay,  48,  60,  61,  73  ;  Glacier, 

39S,  474 
Mengel,  Levy  W.,  48 
Meteor,  1(13 
Meteorological    Notes    of     Verhoeff, 

429  ;  resume  of,  437 
Meteorological  outfit,  51 
Middle  ice,  27 
Misuniisu  Glacier,  475 
Moon,  155,  163,  176 
Moore,  Chas.  A.,  xxxi.  xxxii 
Moore  Glacier,  455,  475 
Morales,  Arctic,  251 
Mount,  Adams,  465  ;  Daly,  465,  476  ; 

Putnam,  465,  Wistar,  476 
Mountains,  Smithson,  266 
Murchison  Sound,  69,  141,  251 
Musk-calf,  339 

Musk-oxen,  337,  352  ;  feasting  on, 
342  ;  meat  of,  352  ;  shot,  33S  ; 
traces  of,  322 

N 

Nansen,  F.,  xxi,  xxviii,  xxxiv,  xxxv 
Narwhal,  iig  ;  hunting  the,  402 
National    Geographic    Society,    xxi 

xxiii,  xxvii,  350 
Natives,  31) 


Navy  Cliff, 


cairn  on,  349 


Netiulumi    460 

New-Vear  reception,  188 

Niglil,  length  of  Arctic,  446 

Nolan,  Dr.,  xxv 

Northern  exploration,  base  of,  444 

Northern  lanil,  temperature  of,  330 

North-Greenland    Expedition,    i8gt- 

92,  44.  47,  422  ;   objects   of,  438  ; 

results  of,  438 


North-Greenland  exploration.  73 
Northumberland    Island,   69,   82,   97, 

108,  115,  154,  24ti,  251,  472 
Noursoak,    16  ;  peninsula    of,    6,    21, 

24,  60 

O 

Objects  of  1891-92  Expedition,  438 

Observations,  91  ;  at  head  of  Ingle- 
field  Gulf,  266;  at  Jtlibloo.  260; 
on  northern  coast  of  Greenland,' 
348  ;  on  the  ice-cap,  306 

Odometers,  170 

Olriks  Bay,  259,  262,  461 

Omenak  Fjord,  24,  60 

Outfit,  Arctic,  74  ;  meteorological,  51  ; 
photographic,  51  ;  surveying,  50 


Pakitsok  Fjord,  7,  20 
Parhelion,  229 
Parrish,  Henry,  xxvii 
Parry,  Cape,  68,  457 
Peary,    Mrs.    Robert  E.,    xxv,    xx\t, 
xxvii,  xxxiv,  47,  57,  58,  60, '65,  77] 
82,   133,   141,    155^   225_   247,   253, 
266,  3S5,  387,  396,  402 
Petermann  Fjord,  305  ;   Mountain,  6 
Petowik  Glacier,  68,  454,  474 
Philadelphia     Academy    of     Natural 
Sciences,    xxi.   xxii,    44,  241,    349, 
422  ;  flag  of,  350 
Photographic  outfit,  51 
Photographs,  ethnological,  174,  175 
Piblockto,  164.  195,  278 
Pike,  Capt.  Richard.  44.  4S 
Polar  bears,  29,  32,  66,  67,  195 
Polaris  House,  152 
Pond,  Maj.  J.  B.,  xxiv 
Proteus,  48 
Prudhoe  Land,  74 
Ptarmigan,  269  ;  Island.  264,  404 
Putnam,  Frof.  F.  W.,  xxi,  xxii,  xxiii, 

xxiv 
Putnam,  Mount,  465 

R 

Rations,  6.  97;  Fourth-of-July,  351  ; 
of  ice-cap  party.  129  ;  on  the' ice- 
cap. 284 

Raven.  90.  107 

Ravenscraig  Harbour,  28 

Red  cliffs.  75 


520       Northward  over  the  "Great  Ice 


Red  Cliff  House,  SS,  109,  134,  14S, 
196,  214;  buried,  162;  repairing, 
216  ;  return  to,  273,  3S5 

Reindeer,  49,  69,  12S,  13S,  144,  145, 
149,  229,  231,  392,  3q4,  396,  400; 
clothing,  211  ;  home  of  the,  462, 
p.isturage  for,  465  ;  skins,  iii,  159, 
160,  230  ;  sleeping-bags,  228 

Results  of  1891-92  Expedition,  43S 

Ritenbenk,  5,  7,  21,  27 

Robertson  Bay,  470  ;  no  trace  of  Ver- 
hoeff  in,  428 

Robertson  Cape,  154,  470 

Robeson  Channel,  345 

Ross,  Capt.  John,  discovery  of  natives 
by,  448 

Ruscheilberger,  Dr.,  xxiv 

Ryder,  Lieut.,  215 


Sabine,  Cape,  48,  82 

Salisbury  Glacier,  455,  475 

Saunders  Island,  235 

Savage  Glacier.  475 

Scarlet  Heart  Glacier,  148 

Scoresby  Sound,  215 

Sculptured  Cliffs,  392 

Seals,  67,  6g,  144.  227,  23S,  252,  272  ; 

frozen,  254  ;  young,  262 
Seamstress,  172 

Seeley.  Capt.  H.  B.,  U.  S.  N.,  xxii 
Settlements,    at    Barden    Bay,    267  ; 

Eskimo,    no,    liS;   Eskimo  snow, 

253;  inhabitants  of,  256  ;   Ittibloo, 

259  ;   Keati,  256  ;  Netiulumi,  257  ; 

permanent,  256 
Sharp,  Ur.  Benjamin,  xviv,  48,  65 
Sherard-Osborne  Fjord,  314,  371 
Ski,  II,  50 
Sledjje,  150,  155  ;  coasting  on  a,  217  ; 

completion  of,  231  ;  construction  of, 

171  ;  construction  of  an  impromptu, 

303  :    covering    runners    of,     22S  ; 

digging  out,   364  ;   discarded,  374 ; 

Eskimo,      112  ;       relashed,      357  ; 

sma.shed,   302  ;    three-runner,   302  ; 

tracks,  252 
Sledge  trips,   around   Inglefield  Gulf, 

247  ;  first,  146  ;  on  the  return,  269  ; 

preparations  for,  243  ;   to    Herbert 

Island,  238 
Sleeping-bags,    169,    171  ;    discarded, 

283  ;  of  reindeer  fur,  228 
Smithson  Mountains,  266 


Smith  Sound,  82 

Snow-bound,  203 

Snow-buntings,  5,  321,  352 

Snow,  buried  in,  204,  364  ;  disappear- 
ance of,  212  ;  drifting  of,  202  ;  first, 
86 

Snow-shoes,  Indian,  50 

Snow-squalls,  225 

Snow-storm,  162,  313 

Snow  village,  inhabitants  of,  254 

Snow  wall.  85 

Sound,  Cumberland,  36  ;  Ikaresak,  7, 
20;  Murchison,  69.  141,  251; 
Scoresby,  215  ;  .Smith,  82  ;  Whale, 
61,  68,  254,  458  ;  up|ier  portion  of 
Whale,  264  ;   Wolstenholm,  456 

St.  George's  Fjord,  308 

St.  John's,  38  ;   in  ruins,  421 

Straits  of  Belle  Isle,  53,  55 

Summer,  Arctic,  75  ;  day,  94 

Sun,   The,  N.  Y.,  xxii,  xxv,  xxxii 

Sun  Glacier,   136,  147,  473 

Sun,  heat  of  the,  361  ;  midnight,  5  ; 
return  of  the.  2oq 

Sunlight,  absence  of,  160 

Sunrise  party,  19') 

Supplies,  transporting,  2S7 

Supporting  party,  selecting  the,  296 

Surveying  outfit,  50 

Sydney,  C.  B.,  3,  52 


Tanning  deerskins,  160, 

Temperature,  14,  17,  64,  94.  123,  129, 
140,  145,  162,  176,  177,  186,  187, 
189,  iq2,  193,  195,  201,  202,  2og, 
210,  214-216,  224,  227,  228,  230, 
231,  233-235,  23^,  287.  306,  313, 
371  ;    of   northern    land,  330 

Thorn,  Miss  Phcebe  A.,  xxvii 

Tide  gauge,  168,  182 

Tide,  rise  and  fall  of,  169  ;  rising  of, 
267 

Tossukatek  Glacier,  21,  22-24 

Tracy,  Hon.  B.  F.,  xxii,  xxiii,  xxv 

Tracy  Glacier,  398,  472 

Traps,  fox,  69,  107,  114,  115,  186, 
199  ;  hare,  115 

Tyrconnel,  Cape,  68 


U 


Upemavik,  48,  60 


Index 


521 


Vegetation,  11 1 

Verhoeff.  John  M.,  xxii,  xxiv,  46,  92, 

g7,    104,    107,   log,  121,  129,   145. 

168,  19Q,  214.  225,  385,  4"  ;  '<»*- 

prints   of,    13S  ;  glacier,   415,   475  ; 

instructions  to,  102  ;  left,  394  ;  lost. 

414  ;  Meteorological  Notes  of,  429  '. 

provisions  left  for,  41"  ;  recogniiion 

of  the  services  of,  424  ;  search  for, 

412  ;  traces  of,  414 
Victoria  Inlet,  319 
Visitors,  1S7 
Volcanic  dust,  193 


W 


Waigat,  the,  60 
Wall,  snow,  85 

Walrus,   69,  92,   104,   112,    114,    141. 
142.  I  go  ;  meat  of,  24S,  256 


Water,  open,  252 

West-Greenland  Expedition,   45,   47. 

48,  82 
Whale-boats,  50,  81,  83,  97,  133.  I44 
Whalers,  28,  29 
Whale  Sound,  61,  68,  254,  458  ;  upper 

portion  of,  264 
White  march,  starting  on  the,  285 
Whitney,  Hon.  Wm.  C,  xxviii 

Wilson.  Hon.  Francis,  xxxii 

Wind,  fierce,  22b 

Wind-storm  on  ice-cap,  289,  294,  310 

Wistar,  Gen'l  I.  J.,  xxv,  xxxii 

Wistar,  Mount,  476 

Wolstenholm  Island,  68;  Sound,  450 


York,  Cape,  "68,   187,   193.  235.  448  ; 
location  of,  452 


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